Allianz Asset Management GmbH Sells 20,000 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Allianz Asset Management GmbH cut its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 10.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $5,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.6% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 14,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 153.0% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 61,700.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SQM shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $36.50 to $43.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities initiated coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $42.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.48. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $47.51.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.21). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 11.29%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.