Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Compass Minerals International, Inc. $CMP

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 52,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Compass Minerals International at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 729,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,009,000 after purchasing an additional 75,881 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,236,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,748,000 after purchasing an additional 320,796 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 357.0% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 49,793 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 14.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,775,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,282,000 after buying an additional 354,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 41.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 107,574 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 31,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Compass Minerals International from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Loop Capital set a $24.00 price target on Compass Minerals International in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Compass Minerals International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

CMP opened at $22.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.39. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.60 and a 52-week high of $27.00. The company has a market cap of $951.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.70 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.32. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 2.82% and a positive return on equity of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $396.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.55) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

Compass Minerals International, Inc is a global producer of essential mineral-based products, primarily known for its salt and plant nutrition portfolios. The company’s deicing salts are used by municipalities and commercial customers across North America to maintain safer roadways in winter months. In addition, its water conditioning salts serve both residential and industrial users, supporting water treatment systems that remove hard minerals to protect plumbing and equipment.

Beyond conventional salt products, Compass Minerals has developed a specialty plant nutrition business focused on sulfate of potash (SOP), a premium fertilizer that provides both potassium and sulfur to crops.