Compass Minerals International, Inc. $CMP Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,757,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.59% of Compass Minerals International worth $54,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,000. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $158,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $176,000. 99.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Compass Minerals International from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Compass Point set a $30.00 price objective on Compass Minerals International in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

Compass Minerals International stock opened at $29.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 195.80 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.06. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a one year low of $16.40 and a one year high of $32.39.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $453.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $418.97 million. Compass Minerals International had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 0.55%.Compass Minerals International’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Compass Minerals International 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.