Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $81.93 and last traded at $81.1320, with a volume of 418447 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MTX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Minerals Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Minerals Technologies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Minerals Technologies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Minerals Technologies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.00.

Minerals Technologies Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $546.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.39 million. Minerals Technologies had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 7.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies Inc. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Minerals Technologies by 626.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Minerals Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Minerals Technologies by 36.0% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Minerals Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Minerals Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc develops, produces and processes a broad range of mineral-based products and solutions that serve a variety of industrial applications. Its offerings include bentonite, perlite, precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), mineral sands, foundry additives, performance minerals and specialty chemicals designed to enhance performance in markets such as paper, steel, construction, oil and gas, environmental remediation and consumer products.

The company operates through several business segments, including Specialty Minerals, Refractory Minerals, Performance Materials and Recycled Materials.