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

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) was the target of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,630,000 shares, a growth 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 short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMP opened at $10.45 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.44. Compass Minerals International has a 1 year low of $9.79 and a 1 year high of $39.78.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,579,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,079,000 after acquiring an additional 160,632 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in Compass Minerals International by 89.2% during the 4th 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,246,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,572,000 after acquiring an additional 172,018 shares during the period. Magnolia Group LLC lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 105.8% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,509,000 after acquiring an additional 436,660 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 549,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,913,000 after acquiring an additional 34,193 shares in the last quarter. 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.