Boston Common Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,800 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $4,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,931,000 after buying an additional 285,668 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,688,000 after buying an additional 27,035 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,801,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,488,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 420,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,914,000 after acquiring an additional 27,230 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

SQM opened at $69.67 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1 year low of $35.67 and a 1 year high of $98.00. The firm has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. CLSA upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.58.

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.