Cove Street Capital LLC Sells 350,408 Shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

Cove Street Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) by 63.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 201,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 350,408 shares during the quarter. Compass Minerals International comprises about 2.6% of Cove Street Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Cove Street Capital LLC owned approximately 0.49% of Compass Minerals International worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CMP. Tsfg LLC bought a new position in shares of Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Denver PWM LLC grew its position in Compass Minerals International by 33.8% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 3,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the 4th quarter worth $80,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Compass Minerals International during the 3rd quarter valued at $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

Compass Minerals International stock opened at $9.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.37. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.51 and a 52 week high of $15.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $396.61 million, a P/E ratio of -2.42 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.28 and a 200-day moving average of $12.14.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.50). Compass Minerals International had a negative return on equity of 10.00% and a negative net margin of 15.10%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Compass Minerals International Profile

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.