Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $12.61, but opened at $11.95. Compass Minerals International shares last traded at $12.19, with a volume of 213,796 shares trading hands.

The basic materials company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.82). The firm had revenue of $208.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.61 million. Compass Minerals International had a positive return on equity of 4.75% and a negative net margin of 14.81%. Compass Minerals International’s revenue was down 38.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CMP. StockNews.com raised Compass Minerals International to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Compass Minerals International from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Compass Minerals International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

Institutional Trading of Compass Minerals International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $11,648,000 after acquiring an additional 186,717 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in Compass Minerals International by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 860,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Compass Minerals International by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 782,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Compass Minerals International by 127.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 525,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,506,000 after buying an additional 294,333 shares during the period. Finally, Michelson Medical Research Foundation Inc. acquired a new stake in Compass Minerals International in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,070,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Compass Minerals International Stock Down 6.0 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 2.90. The company has a market cap of $498.22 million, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.17.

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.