Credit Agricole S A Sells 46,188 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Credit Agricole S A lowered its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 45.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 46,188 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $2,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.6% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 61,700.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.40.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $46.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.46. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52-week low of $29.36 and a 52-week high of $47.39. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.88.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.21). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share 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.