Semanteon Capital Management LP Buys New Position in Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMP. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the third quarter valued at about $512,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 22.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 15.0% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC grew its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 31.2% during the third quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC now owns 49,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 11,760 shares during the period. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Compass Minerals International during the third quarter worth about $58,000. 99.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CMP. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Loop Capital raised Compass Minerals International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

CMP stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.04. 954,373 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 697,565. The company has a market cap of $538.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.64 and its 200 day moving average is $21.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 3.07 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.85 and a 12-month high of $39.78.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $341.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.84 million. Compass Minerals International had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 4.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Compass Minerals International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -41.10%.

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.