RWC Asset Management LLP Has $58.25 Million Stock Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

RWC Asset Management LLP lessened its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 846,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 267,197 shares during the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera comprises 2.9% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $58,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,163,000 after purchasing an additional 860,984 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,051,000 after buying an additional 644,129 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake 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 valued at $65,729,000 after buying an additional 69,177 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake 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 valued at $53,278,000 after buying an additional 578,175 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 277.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 817,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,124,000 after buying an additional 600,975 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $75.58 on Monday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $31.90 and a one year high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $85.18 and its 200 day moving average is $76.61. The firm has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.95.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.38%.The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $1.0295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SQM. Zacks Research cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $100.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.50.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.