Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on SQM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. CLSA upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $72.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52-week low of $35.37 and a 52-week high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.76.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released 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 net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter. Analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.0295 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.63%.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,106,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,949,000 after purchasing an additional 195,142 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,089,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,767,000 after purchasing an additional 413,246 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.7% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,529,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,729,000 after purchasing an additional 69,177 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,462,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,640,000 after purchasing an additional 230,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,239,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,278,000 after buying an additional 578,175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.