Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $18.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $15.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 2.91% from the stock’s previous close.

CMP has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Compass Minerals International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

Shares of CMP traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $18.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 53,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,476. The company has a market cap of $772.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.34 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.56. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $7.51 and a 52-week high of $22.69.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The basic materials company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $214.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.60 million. Compass Minerals International had a negative return on equity of 16.70% and a negative net margin of 9.87%. Compass Minerals International’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.05) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Compass Minerals International will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMP. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 54,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 21,130 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 1,555 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,009,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 127,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,567,000 after buying an additional 5,241 shares during the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.