Perpetual Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 29.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 103,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,740 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $7,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Boston Common Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,767,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 33.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 71,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 17,869 shares during the period. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. now owns 219,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 80,970 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,633,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth $690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SQM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. HSBC upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:SQM opened at $83.05 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51 and a beta of 0.95. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $86.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.37.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.