Boston Common Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 199.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 128,322 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $13,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 11.0% in the third quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 7,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 7,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SQM. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citigroup cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

NYSE SQM opened at $80.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.94 and a 200 day moving average of $63.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $86.13.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.