Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 69,485 Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 69,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Minerals Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 626.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Minerals Technologies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MTX opened at $70.86 on Friday. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.94 and a fifty-two week high of $84.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.65 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.42.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $548.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $558.77 million. Minerals Technologies had a negative net margin of 3.13% and a positive return on equity of 10.63%. Minerals Technologies’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Minerals Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -22.12%.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces and processes a broad range of mineral-based products and solutions that serve a variety of industrial applications. Its offerings include bentonite, perlite, precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mineral sands, foundry additives, performance minerals and specialty chemicals designed to enhance performance in markets such as paper, steel, construction, oil and gas, environmental remediation and consumer products.

The company operates through several business segments, including Specialty Minerals, Refractory Minerals, Performance Materials and Recycled Materials.