Bamco Inc. NY Invests $25.83 Million in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 600,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,828,000. Bamco Inc. NY owned approximately 0.21% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SQM. KBC Group NV raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 118,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,162,000 after buying an additional 6,087 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter worth $1,678,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter worth $2,767,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 33.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 71,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 17,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 58.6% in the third quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. now owns 219,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 80,970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SQM stock opened at $74.58 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.91 and a 200-day moving average of $60.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $86.13. The firm has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.38 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a $0.1236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is presently 5.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SQM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Clarkson Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.63.

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.