Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Short Interest Up 7.7% in June

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during 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 trading volume, of 764,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Compass Minerals International Trading Up 5.2 %

NYSE:CMP opened at $10.45 on Thursday. Compass Minerals International has a twelve month low of $9.79 and a twelve month high of $39.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.30 and a 200-day moving average of $17.44.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Loop Capital upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Compass Minerals International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its position in Compass Minerals International by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,352,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,333,000 after buying an additional 637,883 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the first quarter worth $7,486,000. Magnolia Group LLC raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 105.8% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,509,000 after purchasing an additional 436,660 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Compass Minerals International in the 4th quarter valued at $5,039,000. Finally, Yost Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Compass Minerals International in the 4th quarter worth $4,583,000. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.