Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on SQM. CLSA upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.30.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 2.3%

Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $65.33 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $40.58 and a fifty-two week high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $1.4350 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is presently 34.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,257,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter worth about $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 285,668 shares during the period. Finally, BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth $19,488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company 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.