Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Position in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX – Get Rating) by 217.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,509 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Minerals Technologies were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 389.0% in the second quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Minerals Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 126.1% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. 96.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brett Argirakis sold 927 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $55,647.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,110.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Minerals Technologies Trading Up 1.5 %

MTX opened at $62.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.76 and its 200-day moving average is $59.46. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.38 and a 52-week high of $73.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $507.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.83 million. Minerals Technologies had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 15th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Minerals Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Sidoti downgraded Minerals Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

Minerals Technologies Company Profile

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Minerals Technologies, Inc is a resource and technology-based company. It develops, produces, and markets a range of mineral, mineral-based, and synthetic mineral products. It operates through the following four segments: Performance Materials, Specialty Minerals, Refractories and Energy Services. The Performance Materials segment supplies bentonite and bentonite-related products, chromite and leonardite.