Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) Short Interest Down 9.1% in January

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

Compass Minerals International Stock Up 5.7 %

CMP stock opened at $11.87 on Wednesday. Compass Minerals International has a twelve month low of $7.51 and a twelve month high of $23.59. The company has a market cap of $492.17 million, a PE ratio of -2.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.55) earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Compass Minerals International will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tsfg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 629.4% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 2,077 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 3,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 247.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International in the 4th quarter valued at $80,000. 99.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMP has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Compass Minerals International from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Compass Minerals International from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

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.