Henry James International Management Inc. Increases Position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Henry James International Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 23.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,377 shares during the period. Henry James International Management Inc.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $1,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SQM. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 398,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,602,000 after buying an additional 2,262 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 6,315.8% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Up 2.2 %

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.62. 703,734 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,252,838. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a twelve month low of $38.50 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.61 and a 200-day moving average of $46.26. The company has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by $2.52. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.2134 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.81.

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.