Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,579,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,079,000 after buying an additional 160,632 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 89.2% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,352,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,333,000 after purchasing an additional 637,883 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Compass Minerals International by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,246,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,572,000 after purchasing an additional 172,018 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC increased its position in Compass Minerals International by 105.8% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,509,000 after purchasing an additional 436,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 549,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,913,000 after purchasing an additional 34,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

Shares of CMP traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $9.93. 725,327 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 722,662. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. Compass Minerals International has a 52-week low of $9.80 and a 52-week high of $39.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.60. The company has a market cap of $410.41 million, a P/E ratio of -4.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.13.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $1.26. Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 7.47% and a positive return on equity of 22.03%. The company had revenue of $364.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.46) EPS. Compass Minerals International’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International will post 0.55 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.