Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Stock

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 31.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, December 29th. HSBC raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of SQM stock opened at $77.40 on Wednesday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $86.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.59.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.