American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 67,725 Shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP - Free Report) by 77.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 67,725 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.37% of Compass Minerals International worth $1,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Compass Minerals International by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 92,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 40,288 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Compass Minerals International by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 18,111 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 5,544 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Compass Minerals International in the 4th quarter worth about $1,439,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Compass Minerals International by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 782,811 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,412,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Compass Minerals International by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,189 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company's stock.

Compass Minerals International Price Performance

Compass Minerals International stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.77. 725,620 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 792,424. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.07. Compass Minerals International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.51 and a 52-week high of $15.82. The company has a market cap of $447.04 million, a P/E ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 1.17. 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 (NYSE:CMP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.50). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 15.10% and a negative return on equity of 10.00%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on CMP shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Compass Minerals International from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note 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, StockNews.com upgraded Compass Minerals International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating 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.