Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $82.56 According to Brokerages

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.56.

SQM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. 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 note on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 4th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

Shares of SQM stock opened at $62.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.90 and its 200 day moving average is $76.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.05. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12 month low of $41.94 and a 12 month high of $98.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 59.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM) is a Chile-based mining and chemicals company that produces lithium, iodine, specialty plant nutrients and industrial chemicals. Its operations are primarily located in northern Chile, where the company extracts mineral resources from the Salar de Atacama and other deposits.

SQM is one of the world’s significant producers of lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries, energy-storage systems, electric vehicles and other industrial applications.