Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 73.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 325,454 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $6,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SQM. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 29.3% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 16,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 5.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,073 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,108 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 20.6% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 6.8% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradiem LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 20.7% during the third quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 15,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $47.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.10. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1-year low of $38.50 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.93.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 39.90%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2134 per share. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

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.