SailingStone Capital Partners LLC Sells 42,682 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 91.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42,682 shares during the period. Sociedad Quimica y Minera makes up approximately 0.1% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,257,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter worth $50,183,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,239,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,278,000 after buying an additional 578,175 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,671,000 after buying an additional 430,900 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,089,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,767,000 after buying an additional 413,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SQM shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.90.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 0.4%

SQM opened at $75.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.99. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12 month low of $40.58 and a 12 month high of $98.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during 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 19.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $1.435 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.46%.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM), commonly known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemicals company headquartered in Santiago. Its operations are centered in northern Chile, where it extracts mineral resources and processes them into products used in agriculture, industry and technology.

SQM is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and lithium derivatives, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. The company also produces specialty plant nutrients and potassium-based fertilizers, as well as iodine and iodine derivatives used in areas such as healthcare, nutrition and industrial manufacturing.

In addition, SQM produces industrial chemicals, including potassium chloride, potassium sulfate and certain industrial salts.