International Assets Investment Management LLC Invests $2.61 Million in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,611,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Capital International Investors bought a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the first quarter valued at approximately $184,773,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 29.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,642,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $264,549,000 after acquiring an additional 831,423 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 44.0% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,445,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,626,000 after acquiring an additional 747,037 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 373.7% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 926,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,391,000 after acquiring an additional 730,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 354.2% during the third quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 824,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,211,000 after acquiring an additional 643,142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SQM. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.58.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock opened at $45.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.92. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1 year low of $38.50 and a 1 year high of $82.48.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 37.86% and a net margin of 26.95%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.