Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Shares Sold by RWC Asset Advisors US LLC

RWC Asset Advisors US LLC decreased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 971,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 77,997 shares during the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera accounts for about 16.0% of RWC Asset Advisors US LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $71,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after acquiring an additional 285,668 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,688,000 after purchasing an additional 27,035 shares in the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at $19,488,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter valued at $2,854,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 292.0% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 33,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 25,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SQM shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.90.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

Shares of SQM opened at $76.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $98.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.25.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $1.435 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is currently 54.64%.

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.