Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $27.02 and last traded at $26.75, with a volume of 189364 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research raised shares of Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Loop Capital set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Compass Minerals International from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Compass Minerals International Trading Down 0.4%

The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.44.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.32. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 2.82% and a positive return on equity of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $396.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.55) earnings per share. Compass Minerals International’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 80.0% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter worth about $122,000. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc is a global producer of essential mineral-based products, primarily known for its salt and plant nutrition portfolios. The company’s deicing salts are used by municipalities and commercial customers across North America to maintain safer roadways in winter months. In addition, its water conditioning salts serve both residential and industrial users, supporting water treatment systems that remove hard minerals to protect plumbing and equipment.

Beyond conventional salt products, Compass Minerals has developed a specialty plant nutrition business focused on sulfate of potash (SOP), a premium fertilizer that provides both potassium and sulfur to crops.