AIA Group Ltd Makes New Investment in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 38,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,633,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. State of Wyoming lifted its position in 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 worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 26.9% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Clarkson Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

SQM opened at $71.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.68. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52-week low of $29.36 and a 52-week high of $86.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors 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 5.85%.

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.