Royce & Associates LP Has $1.27 Million Stock Holdings in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 66.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Compass Minerals International were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 23.9% in the third quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 969,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,648,000 after purchasing an additional 186,717 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 782,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 6,062 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,394,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 127.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 525,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,506,000 after buying an additional 294,333 shares during the period. Finally, Michelson Medical Research Foundation Inc. bought a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International during the third quarter worth about $6,070,000. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Compass Minerals International Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of Compass Minerals International stock opened at $10.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.73 and its 200 day moving average is $12.05. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a one year low of $7.51 and a one year high of $17.99. The firm has a market cap of $425.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on CMP shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Compass Minerals International from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research 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.