Wall Street Zen Upgrades Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) to Buy

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

SQM has been the subject of several other research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 0.3%

SQM opened at $70.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $86.13.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.