Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Hits New 1-Year Low at $13.10

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $13.10 and last traded at $13.26, with a volume of 35536 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CMP shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Loop Capital cut Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.40.

Compass Minerals International Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.01 and its 200 day moving average is $22.61.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $341.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.84 million. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 4.97% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Compass Minerals International’s dividend payout ratio is -41.10%.

Insider Activity at Compass Minerals International

In other news, Director Joseph E. Reece purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.24 per share, for a total transaction of $106,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,840. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 43.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,518,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $346,506,000 after buying an additional 1,660,353 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,603,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,456,000 after purchasing an additional 728,597 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 89.2% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,352,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,333,000 after acquiring an additional 637,883 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC increased its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 105.8% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,509,000 after purchasing an additional 436,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,817,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,729,000 after purchasing an additional 379,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.