Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SQM. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

NYSE SQM opened at $83.83 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.03. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $84.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.81 and a beta of 0.98.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were issued a $0.1236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 153.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

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.