Brandes Investment Partners LP Purchases Shares of 47,864 Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)

Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 47,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,648,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.15% of Minerals Technologies at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MTX. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Minerals Technologies by 64.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,234,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,357,000 after buying an additional 482,674 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Minerals Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,797,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Minerals Technologies by 210.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,615,000 after buying an additional 75,565 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Minerals Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $4,049,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Minerals Technologies by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,268,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,989,000 after buying an additional 32,196 shares in the last quarter. 97.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Minerals Technologies from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Minerals Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

NYSE MTX opened at $67.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.28. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.64 and a 52-week high of $90.29.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 11.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Minerals Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.49%.

About Minerals Technologies

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.