Engineers Gate Manager LP Sells 148,257 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Engineers Gate Manager LP decreased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 148,257 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $5,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after purchasing an additional 285,668 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,688,000 after buying an additional 27,035 shares during the period. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth $19,488,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter worth $2,854,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,842,000 after buying an additional 83,738 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 3.6%

SQM opened at $69.90 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1-year low of $40.58 and a 1-year high of $98.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.24.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid 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 35.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.90.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Profile

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.