Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, salt and fertilizer producer Compass Minerals International (CMP -2.75%) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Compass and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Compass facts
Headquarters (founded) |
Overland Park, Kan. (1993) |
Market Cap |
$2.4 billion |
Industry |
Diversified metals and mining |
Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$1.0 billion |
Management |
CEO Francis Malecha CFO Rodney Underdown |
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) |
31% |
Cash/Debt |
$175.5 million / $481.3 million |
Dividend Yield |
2.4% |
Competitors |
PotashCorp |
On CAPS, 96% of the 791 members who have rated Compass believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Just yesterday, one of those bulls, TMFTailwind, tapped Compass as a particularly timely bargain opportunity:
HUGE sell-off after news of the potash cartel model falling apart. My initial reaction is that the market's reaction is way overdone. Sulfate of potash accounts for only about 25% of CMP's revenue and about 33% of profits. The rest of its business is rock salt and it essentially performs like an stable, growing annuity. A ~25% drop implies that the potash segment of the business is essentially worthless in the future. I disagree.