Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Holdings Lowered by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 26.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42,029 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $4,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 15,879 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4,834.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,296 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 14,986 shares during the period. CX Institutional bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter valued at about $74,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth about $417,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $36.50 to $43.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.10.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 2.6%

Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $45.72 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $47.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.68.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.21). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.