SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 81.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,191 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SQM. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 96.1% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:SQM opened at $88.98 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.47. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $90.50. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.41 and a beta of 0.95.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%.The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.0295 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SQM. Clarkson Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM) is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals and minerals headquartered in Santiago, Chile. The company focuses on the extraction and processing of key inputs for the agricultural, industrial and high‐tech sectors. Its core business activities include the mining of lithium, potassium and iodine, as well as the manufacture of value‐added products derived from these raw materials.

SQM’s product portfolio spans lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems; potassium chloride and potassium nitrate fertilizers designed for precision agriculture; and iodine and its derivatives for pharmaceutical, food and electronics applications.