Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $75.63, but opened at $68.27. Sociedad Quimica y Minera shares last traded at $67.5890, with a volume of 601,163 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SQM. Citigroup cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Clarkson Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 4.8%

The stock has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 3.27.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is currently 6.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 31,066 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% in the first 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. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 123,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 22,870 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 191,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 56,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter worth $776,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.