Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

SQM stock opened at $71.51 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52-week low of $34.44 and a 52-week high of $98.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,257,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,163,000 after purchasing an additional 860,984 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,051,000 after purchasing an additional 644,129 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 1st quarter valued at $50,183,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 277.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 817,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,124,000 after purchasing an additional 600,975 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.