Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) Insider Sells $87,461.60 in Stock

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) insider Dj Monagle III sold 1,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $87,461.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 81,031 shares in the company, valued at $6,006,017.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Minerals Technologies Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE MTX opened at $75.32 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.75. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.61 and a fifty-two week high of $76.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.08 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $524.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.67 million. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 10.26%. Minerals Technologies’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Minerals Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Minerals Technologies presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $68.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTX. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 395.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,334,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,915 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 10.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,585,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $177,155,000 after purchasing an additional 341,092 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Minerals Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $20,001,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 80.9% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 649,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,451,000 after purchasing an additional 290,345 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 70.1% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 583,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,649,000 after purchasing an additional 240,350 shares during the period. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Minerals Technologies Company Profile

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications.