Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Holdings in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.09% of Compass Minerals International worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 40,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,394,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Compass Minerals International from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

Compass Minerals International stock opened at $19.72 on Thursday. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.51 and a 12-month high of $20.17. The stock has a market cap of $818.46 million, a P/E ratio of -4.99 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.24. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 15.10% and a negative return on equity of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $494.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $413.96 million. The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Company Profile

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.