Aberdeen Group plc Sells 39,392 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 17.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 180,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39,392 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $7,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SQM. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter valued at about $32,432,000. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 369.9% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 1,113,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,871,000 after acquiring an additional 876,754 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,232,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 652,257 shares during the last quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 1,842,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 119,341.0% in the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 238,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,267,000 after purchasing an additional 238,682 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Clarkson Capital restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $71.81 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $86.13. The firm has a market cap of $20.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.15 and a 200 day moving average of $57.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

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 dividend payout ratio is presently 6.56%.

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.