Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Earns Underweight Rating from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reissued by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $27.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $30.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 1.59% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CMP. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. Zacks Research cut Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Compass Point set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Compass Minerals International presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $27.60.

Compass Minerals International Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE CMP opened at $27.43 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.80 and a beta of 1.23. Compass Minerals International has a one year low of $16.40 and a one year high of $34.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $215.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.75 million. Compass Minerals International had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 1.42%.The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.39) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Compass Minerals International will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMP. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in Compass Minerals International by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 36,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Compass Minerals International by 5.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Compass Minerals International by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

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.