UBS Group AG Buys 27,230 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 420,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,230 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $28,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,767,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 71,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 17,869 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. now owns 219,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,419,000 after acquiring an additional 80,970 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth about $559,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,633,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 0.3%

Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $91.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.36. The stock has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.00. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $98.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%. On average, analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $1.0295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.