Short Interest in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Grows By 7.7%

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) saw a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,630,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the May 31st total of 4,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 764,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMP has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Loop Capital raised Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Compass Minerals International Stock Up 5.2 %

NYSE:CMP traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.45. The company had a trading volume of 744,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,837. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.49. Compass Minerals International has a 52 week low of $9.79 and a 52 week high of $39.78.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $1.26. Compass Minerals International had a positive return on equity of 22.03% and a negative net margin of 7.47%. The company had revenue of $364.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Compass Minerals International’s revenue was down 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Compass Minerals International will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 4,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Compass Minerals International by 117.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 116.9% in the 4th quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 157.0% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 5,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Compass Minerals International during the first quarter valued at $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

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.