Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Free Report) by 78.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 71,021 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.50% of Minerals Technologies worth $12,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Minerals Technologies by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,482 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,933 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Minerals Technologies by 3.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th.

Minerals Technologies Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MTX traded up $0.09 on Monday, hitting $76.55. 173,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 141,134. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.24 and a 200-day moving average of $78.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Minerals Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.94 and a fifty-two week high of $90.29.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.05. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.20% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $541.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Minerals Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase from Minerals Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.47%.

Minerals Technologies Profile

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.