Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Minerals Technologies from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Minerals Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

Shares of MTX stock opened at $60.91 on Friday. Minerals Technologies has a 52-week low of $49.54 and a 52-week high of $86.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 1,015.30 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.83.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 15th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Minerals Technologies had a net margin of 0.10% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $557.00 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Minerals Technologies will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a boost from Minerals Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Minerals Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 733.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTX. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 341.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,394 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 6,494 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 543,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,879,000 after purchasing an additional 32,342 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 118,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,530,000 after purchasing an additional 24,055 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Minerals Technologies by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 171,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,871,000 after purchasing an additional 4,361 shares during the period. 97.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.