Forensic Analysis · Materials / Mining & Chemicals · as of Aug 11, 2026
Compass Minerals International Inc (CMP)
A forensic read on Compass Minerals International Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
2.2
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
161.1
P / E (ttm)
-34.1%
ROE
$1.1B
Market cap
2.38%
Dividend yield
11.3%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Compass Minerals International Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.2, placing it in the Grey zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
1.7%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 1.7% in the latest fiscal year and steady — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+7.0%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +23% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+7.0%/yr). The count is growing: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~7.0% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~18%.
stopped
FY2024→FY2025
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $13M of buybacks + dividends in FY2024, but ~$0 in FY2025. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
suspended
FY2024→FY2025
Dividend — suspended.The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $13M paid in FY2024, then $0 in FY2025. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.
0.8% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 0.8% of revenue and 8% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.24 per diluted share. The cost of it is not in the cash flow — no cash left the business — it is in the count, and there it has run at about 7.4% a year and is falling.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$1.24B
Revenue Growth YoY+11.3%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)-0.0%
Net Margin-6.4%
Free Cash Flow$128.0M
Return on Equity-34.1%
Debt / Equity3.55x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Compass Minerals International Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
Compass Minerals International Inc (CMP) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
$83M
FY2024–FY2024
Goodwill impairments.Took $83M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2024 ($83M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them.