Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Minerals Technologies Stock Down 0.2 %

MTX stock opened at $75.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19 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 0.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.78. Minerals Technologies has a 1-year low of $48.61 and a 1-year high of $90.29.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.05. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 11.46%. The company had revenue of $541.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $561.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Minerals Technologies will post 6.22 EPS for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is 13.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Minerals Technologies by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 97.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Minerals Technologies by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

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.