Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Stock Has Average Target Price of $82.00 According to Analysts

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.11.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $97.00 to $95.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 27th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 1.8%

SQM opened at $57.39 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a one year low of $46.51 and a one year high of $98.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 20.62%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $1.4350 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is presently 34.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter worth about $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,671,000 after buying an additional 430,900 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 35.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,337,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,780,000 after buying an additional 350,573 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter valued at approximately $21,297,000. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.1% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 265,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,504,000 after buying an additional 123,700 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemical company that produces lithium and lithium derivatives, iodine, potassium nitrate, specialty plant nutrients and other industrial chemicals. Its products serve industries including energy storage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

The company’s operations are centered in northern Chile, including the Atacama Desert, where it extracts minerals and other resources from salt flats and mineral deposits.