Barings LLC Acquires 9,874 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Barings LLC lifted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,874 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $7,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,257,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,239,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,278,000 after acquiring an additional 578,175 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,089,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $143,767,000 after acquiring an additional 413,246 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,973,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.7% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 799,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,985,000 after acquiring an additional 307,983 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 7.3%

Shares of SQM stock opened at $66.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52 week low of $35.67 and a 52 week high of $98.00. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.81.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. Analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SQM. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. CLSA upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.58.

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.