Compass Minerals International Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Compass Minerals International Inc had return on equity of -29.0%, an operating margin of 2.0%, debt equal to 362.1% of equity and a current ratio of 2.15. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Compass Minerals International Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2012Dec 2011	2013Dec 2012	2014Dec 2013	2017Dec 2016	2018Dec 2017	2019Dec 2018	2020Dec 2019	2021Sept 2021	2022Sept 2022	2023Sept 2023	2024Sept 2024	2025Sept 2025	LTMJun 2026
Gross margin	—	—	—	26.3%	23.9%	17.0%	21.4%	19.9%	16.0%	19.3%	17.5%	15.3%	17.2%
Operating margin	—	—	—	15.3%	11.7%	7.4%	11.0%	9.2%	3.6%	6.4%	−10.5%	2.0%	8.9%
Net margin	—	—	—	14.3%	3.1%	6.0%	5.6%	−16.2%	−1.7%	0.9%	−18.4%	−6.4%	1.4%
Free-cash-flow margin	—	—	—	−1.3%	2.7%	7.9%	5.7%	4.9%	1.9%	−4.0%	−8.9%	10.3%	6.0%
Return on equity	33.4%	18.7%	24.7%	25.6%	6.1%	10.6%	11.6%	−45.5%	−7.5%	2.7%	−49.2%	−29.0%	7.4%
Return on assets	12.4%	7.1%	9.7%	8.4%	1.7%	2.6%	2.5%	−9.1%	−1.3%	0.6%	−11.9%	−5.1%	1.3%
Asset turnover	—	—	—	0.59	0.54	0.44	0.45	0.56	0.76	0.69	0.65	0.79	0.90
Current ratio	1.58	2.54	2.24	1.92	2.75	2.55	2.63	2.72	2.45	2.19	2.71	2.15	2.01
Debt to equity	108.1%	95.8%	86.4%	185.9%	198.9%	258.7%	253.0%	317.6%	360.4%	155.7%	295.0%	362.1%	276.3%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	10.3x	7.3x	10.4x	5.1x	3.0x	1.6x	2.1x	1.8x	0.8x	1.4x	n/m	0.4x	1.7x
Effective tax rate	24.5%	20.1%	24.9%	17.5%	58.4%	20.5%	18.4%	13.7%	—	62.0%	—	—	56.0%
SG&A as % of revenue	—	—	—	11.0%	12.3%	9.7%	10.4%	10.7%	10.7%	12.5%	12.3%	9.1%	8.3%
Capital spending as % of revenue	—	—	—	16.0%	8.4%	9.0%	9.0%	7.5%	7.8%	12.8%	10.2%	5.6%	6.0%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	97.2%	23.4%	88.4%	−9.2%	86.9%	131.9%	101.2%	—	—	−460.0%	—	—	423.4%
Dividends ÷ net income	40.3%	74.6%	55.9%	57.8%	228.3%	150.8%	161.3%	—	—	237.1%	—	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	41.5%	318.8%	63.2%	—	262.8%	114.3%	159.5%	176.3%	87.4%	—	—	0.0%	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Compass Minerals International Inc: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q4Sept 2024	2025 Q1Dec 2024	2025 Q2Mar 2025	2025 Q3Jun 2025	2025 Q4Sept 2025	2026 Q1Dec 2025	2026 Q2Mar 2026	2026 Q3Jun 2026
Gross margin	9.3%	11.2%	15.5%	19.2%	16.9%	16.0%	18.3%	17.6%
Operating margin	−14.3%	0.2%	−0.6%	7.4%	5.3%	9.2%	12.4%	5.1%
Net margin	−23.1%	−7.7%	−6.5%	−7.9%	−3.2%	4.7%	2.8%	−2.6%
Free-cash-flow margin	−16.1%	−8.4%	35.0%	1.8%	−10.0%	−15.1%	39.5%	−8.7%
Current ratio	2.71	2.37	1.84	2.15	2.15	2.59	2.06	2.01
Debt to equity	289.8%	370.5%	341.5%	330.4%	355.5%	339.2%	260.0%	272.0%
SG&A as % of revenue	15.0%	10.8%	6.0%	11.2%	11.6%	6.7%	6.0%	12.5%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

3 of 6 checks passed · June 30, 2026

What it owns · $1.4bn

Short-term assets $499mLonger-term assets $854m

What it owes, and who funded it · $511m

Short-term liabilities $248mShareholders' equity $264m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $499m of assets due within a year against $248m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
More cash than debt $56m of cash against $717m of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 272% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 349% to 272% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $156m of operating cash flow against $717m of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $116m against $68m of interest.

From Compass Minerals International Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

33 /100

Weak moat

How hard Compass Minerals International's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 9 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 6 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 5.8% of total assets over 9 years.
Pricing power 7 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 19.1%, moving by 2.9 percentage points (standard deviation) across 9 years.
Durability 1 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 6.9%; its worst year was -7.4%.
Cash conversion 9 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 6 of 9 years, at a median 5.4% of revenue.
Discipline 10 / 20

The diluted share count rose 24.5% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.8% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Compass Minerals International Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 26, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Compass Minerals International Inc.