Barclays PLC Reduces Holdings in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

Barclays PLC decreased its position in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 78,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,338 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.19% of Compass Minerals International worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 29,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Compass Minerals International by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 40,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

Compass Minerals International stock opened at $13.58 on Tuesday. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.51 and a fifty-two week high of $15.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.37. The stock has a market cap of $563.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.44 and a beta of 0.95.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.50). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 15.10% and a negative return on equity of 10.00%. As a group, analysts expect that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CMP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.