Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Earns “Neutral” Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $63.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $45.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 2.85% from the company’s current price.

SQM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Friday, October 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.81.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $61.25 on Thursday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $65.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.96. The company has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 5,873 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 573,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,784,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 84.5% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 81,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 37,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 55.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.