Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives $59.75 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.75.

Several analysts have weighed in on SQM shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down previously from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $74.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $75.79. The company has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.45.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.06). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.56%.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SQM. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 153.0% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.