Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.6250.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SQM. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQM. Boston Common Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,767,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in 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 worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 17,869 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. now owns 219,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 80,970 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter valued at $729,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter valued at $690,000. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:SQM opened at $76.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54 and a beta of 0.99. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $86.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.37.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%.The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a $0.1236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.