Grove Bank & Trust Takes $46,000 Position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SQM. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 55.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 19,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SQM. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.14.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 2.9%

NYSE SQM opened at $33.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.35. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $45.89.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.15). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 13.45%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($3.04) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.