Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $70.75 and last traded at $70.2350, with a volume of 888844 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $68.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.75.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 0.0%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.74 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQM. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 153.0% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 96.1% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM) is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals and minerals headquartered in Santiago, Chile. The company focuses on the extraction and processing of key inputs for the agricultural, industrial and high‐tech sectors. Its core business activities include the mining of lithium, potassium and iodine, as well as the manufacture of value‐added products derived from these raw materials.

SQM’s product portfolio spans lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems; potassium chloride and potassium nitrate fertilizers designed for precision agriculture; and iodine and its derivatives for pharmaceutical, food and electronics applications.