Itau BBA Securities Initiates Coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM)

Equities research analysts at Itau BBA Securities started coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Itau BBA Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.80% from the stock’s previous close.

SQM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $36.50 to $43.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.08.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 3.7%

SQM opened at $45.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.97 and its 200 day moving average is $37.94. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $47.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 1.07.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQM. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth about $261,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 worth $10,683,000 after purchasing an additional 231,010 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 214,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,787,000 after purchasing an additional 62,121 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Finally, Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 151.2% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 16,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 10,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.