Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 644,129 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 62.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 644,129 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $72,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SQM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in 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. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $14,249,000 after purchasing an additional 125,506 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 22.6% in 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 last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 191,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 56,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $76.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 3.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.50 and a 200-day moving average of $60.25. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $86.13. The company has a market capitalization of $21.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.63.

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.