Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) Short Interest Up 21.2% in February

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 344,500 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the February 13th total of 284,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 171,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MTX shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Minerals Technologies from $103.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Minerals Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Minerals Technologies Price Performance

Shares of MTX stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 167,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,802. Minerals Technologies has a 1-year low of $65.64 and a 1-year high of $90.30. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.57.

Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 11.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Minerals Technologies will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Minerals Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Minerals Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Minerals Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,761,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,276,000 after acquiring an additional 527,206 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $97,989,000 after acquiring an additional 32,196 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 873,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,554,000 after acquiring an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 861,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,630,000 after acquiring an additional 204,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P grew its holdings in Minerals Technologies by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 630,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,041,000 after acquiring an additional 49,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.29% of the company’s stock.

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.