Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a decline of 9.1% from the January 15th total of 2,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 749,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CMP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Compass Minerals International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

Shares of CMP traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $11.29. The stock had a trading volume of 468,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,372. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.95. Compass Minerals International has a one year low of $7.51 and a one year high of $23.59. The firm has a market cap of $468.20 million, a PE ratio of -2.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.50). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 19.24% and a negative return on equity of 2.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Compass Minerals International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,427,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,055,000 after purchasing an additional 652,129 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 642.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,058,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,909,000 after purchasing an additional 915,983 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 969,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,648,000 after purchasing an additional 186,717 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 785,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,842,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Michelson Medical Research Foundation Inc. raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Michelson Medical Research Foundation Inc. now owns 600,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,750,000 after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

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.