Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

CMP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Compass Minerals International from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Compass Point set a $30.00 target price on Compass Minerals International in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.80.

Compass Minerals International Stock Up 0.9%

CMP stock opened at $29.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. Compass Minerals International has a twelve month low of $16.40 and a twelve month high of $34.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 197.97 and a beta of 1.24.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $453.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $418.97 million. Compass Minerals International had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Research analysts expect that Compass Minerals International will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Compass Minerals International

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMP. Comerica Bank grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 6,266.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 94.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International in the first quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

About Compass Minerals International

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.