StockNews.com Lowers Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

Shares of MTX stock opened at $73.70 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 1.30. Minerals Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $48.61 and a fifty-two week high of $90.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.05. Minerals Technologies had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $541.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 13.84%.

Insider Transactions at Minerals Technologies

In other Minerals Technologies news, insider Dj Monagle III sold 14,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.63, for a total value of $1,189,971.27. Following the sale, the insider now owns 79,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,667,903.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 97.9% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.6% in the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

Minerals Technologies Company Profile

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.