Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.5833.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SQM shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. CLSA upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 31,066 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,249,000 after acquiring an additional 125,506 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 38.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 159,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,609,000 after purchasing an additional 44,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 124,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,394,000 after buying an additional 3,634 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:SQM opened at $68.90 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52 week low of $35.67 and a 52 week high of $98.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.99 and a 200 day moving average of $78.75.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share (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 for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.