Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 238,682 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 119,341.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238,682 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.08% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $10,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 57.2% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 2,093.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,747 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter worth $146,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter valued at $158,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. HSBC upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE SQM opened at $70.34 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.69 and its 200-day moving average is $55.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $86.13.

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

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.56%.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company 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.