Aberdeen Group plc Sells 39,392 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 17.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39,392 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.06% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $7,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SQM. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 31,066 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,249,000 after buying an additional 125,506 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 216.4% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 6,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Friday, October 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:SQM opened at $71.81 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $86.13. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.15 and its 200 day moving average is $57.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a PE ratio of 39.24 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.56%.

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.