Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.4091.

SQM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, December 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.4% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 118,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,162,000 after acquiring an additional 6,087 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,678,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter worth $776,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 71,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 17,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,412,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of SQM opened at $79.72 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $83.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.56 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.51. 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 (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is 6.56%.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

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.