Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $64.00 to $82.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 15.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SQM. Zacks Research lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. CLSA raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock traded down $2.11 on Wednesday, hitting $70.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 519,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,311,194. The company has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1 year low of $35.67 and a 1 year high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.85.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share (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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQM. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,249,000 after purchasing an additional 125,506 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 159,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,609,000 after purchasing an additional 44,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 124,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after purchasing an additional 3,634 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.