Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) Short Interest Update

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 287,300 shares, a drop of 26.9% from the January 15th total of 393,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 152,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTX. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,761,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $134,276,000 after acquiring an additional 527,206 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Minerals Technologies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,268,792 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $97,989,000 after purchasing an additional 32,196 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 873,123 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,554,000 after buying an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 861,173 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $65,630,000 after buying an additional 204,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P lifted its stake in shares of Minerals Technologies by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 630,381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,041,000 after buying an additional 49,376 shares during the period. 97.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Minerals Technologies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MTX traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.14. The stock had a trading volume of 273,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 165,040. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $75.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.31. 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 has a one year low of $69.43 and a one year high of $90.29. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 11.61%. As a group, research analysts expect that Minerals Technologies will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Minerals Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Minerals Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MTX shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Minerals Technologies from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Minerals Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Minerals Technologies Company 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.