Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Minerals Technologies were worth $1,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTX. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Minerals Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $343,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 27.9% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 6,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 42.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,951,000 after purchasing an additional 19,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 9.8% during the third quarter. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD now owns 30,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710 shares during the last quarter. 97.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MTX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Minerals Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Minerals Technologies from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th.

Minerals Technologies Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MTX stock opened at $68.69 on Friday. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.71 and a 12 month high of $90.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.20.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 11.49%. On average, research analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 8.49%.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications.