263,115 Shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Bought by ARGA Investment Management LP

ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 263,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,297,000. Sociedad Quimica y Minera makes up 0.7% of ARGA Investment Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CLSA upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.50.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of SQM stock opened at $73.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.59 and a 200-day moving average of $78.77. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $35.67 and a 12-month high of $98.00.

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