1,861 Shares in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Acquired by CX Institutional

CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,861 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,302,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,093,000 after acquiring an additional 177,323 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,965,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,470,000 after buying an additional 18,255 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,071,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,954,000 after buying an additional 18,748 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,832,000. Finally, North of South Capital LLP raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 597,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,709,000 after acquiring an additional 95,564 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SQM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.14.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $33.12 on Tuesday. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $45.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a PE ratio of -29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a positive return on equity of 16.12%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($3.04) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.