Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet downgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

SQM opened at $49.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.78. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a 1 year low of $38.50 and a 1 year high of $85.03.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 37.86% and a net margin of 26.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SQM. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 29.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,642,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $264,549,000 after buying an additional 831,423 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,643,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $157,712,000 after acquiring an additional 119,695 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 44.0% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,445,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,626,000 after purchasing an additional 747,037 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the first quarter worth about $184,773,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,992,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,387,000 after purchasing an additional 172,908 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.