First Trust Advisors LP Sells 253,795 Shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. $MTX

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) by 91.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 253,795 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Minerals Technologies were worth $1,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 36.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Jain Global LLC lifted its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 4,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

Minerals Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTX opened at $75.15 on Friday. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.94 and a 12-month high of $84.34. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of -34.63 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Minerals Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Minerals Technologies news, VP Timothy Jordan sold 6,000 shares of Minerals Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.27, for a total value of $481,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,665.33. The trade was a 82.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MTX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Minerals Technologies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Minerals Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.00.

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.