Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Shares Gap Up to $44.14

Shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $44.14, but opened at $45.79. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile shares last traded at $46.63, with a volume of 238,518 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. TheStreet cut Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Up 6.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 1.07.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 37.86%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 153.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 133.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

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.