Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Trading Down 3.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) shares traded down 3.6% on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $42.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile traded as low as $42.80 and last traded at $43.36. 447,472 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 1,422,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.99.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.98.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 153.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 133.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.71. The company has a market capitalization of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.07.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 37.86%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.