Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 55.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 22,330 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SQM. Nuveen Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at $35,832,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 367.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 293,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,683,000 after buying an additional 231,010 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at $7,314,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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 valued at $120,093,000 after buying an additional 177,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at $5,619,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

SQM stock opened at $37.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52-week low of $29.36 and a 52-week high of $45.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.02.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued 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). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 13.45%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($3.04) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SQM. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.14.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.