Compass Minerals International, Inc. $CMP Stock: Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Stake

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 314,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 30,800 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.75% of Compass Minerals International worth $6,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Engine Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 275.4% in the first quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 1,439,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,740 shares during the period. Irenic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Compass Minerals International in the first quarter worth approximately $33,520,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 692.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,253,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,987 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 913,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,333,000 after purchasing an additional 140,918 shares during the period. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 657,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,484,000 after purchasing an additional 25,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Compass Minerals International Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Compass Minerals International stock opened at $23.26 on Monday. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.40 and a 1-year high of $34.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $976.45 million, a PE ratio of 54.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.08). Compass Minerals International had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 1.42%. The company had revenue of $215.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.39) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CMP. Wall Street Zen cut Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Compass Minerals International in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Compass Minerals International from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Compass Minerals International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Compass Minerals International has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc (NYSE:CMP) is a producer of essential minerals used in transportation, agriculture, water treatment, and industrial applications. The company primarily operates through its Salt and Plant Nutrition businesses.

Its Salt business produces and distributes highway deicing salt, rock salt, evaporated salt, solar salt, magnesium chloride, and calcium chloride. These products are sold to government agencies, commercial customers, industrial users, and consumers for roadway safety, water treatment, food processing, and other applications.