Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 66,005 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $14,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SQM. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 65.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 43.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 59.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,000. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Citigroup raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $88.00 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.11.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 1.6%

SQM stock opened at $53.89 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52 week low of $51.29 and a 52 week high of $98.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.10.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s quarterly revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

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

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. SQM sells its products to customers in Chile and international markets.