Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 486,682 Shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX – Get Rating) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,708,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 486,682 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.05% of Minerals Technologies worth $103,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 53.2% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Minerals Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Ellevest Inc. grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 308.9% during the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 126.1% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Minerals Technologies during the second quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 96.57% of the company’s stock.

Minerals Technologies Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MTX opened at $57.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.30. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $49.38 and a one year high of $73.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.47.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $546.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $527.73 million. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 9.53%. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is 5.67%.

Insider Transactions at Minerals Technologies

In related news, Director Rocky Motwani acquired 822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $60.82 per share, with a total value of $49,994.04. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,994.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MTX shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Minerals Technologies in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti cut Minerals Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

About Minerals Technologies

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Minerals Technologies, Inc is a resource and technology-based company. It develops, produces, and markets a range of mineral, mineral-based, and synthetic mineral products. It operates through the following four segments: Performance Materials, Specialty Minerals, Refractories and Energy Services. The Performance Materials segment supplies bentonite and bentonite-related products, chromite and leonardite.