Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives $79.90 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.30.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SQM shares. CLSA raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the fourth 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. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter worth $19,488,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter worth about $2,854,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 292.0% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 33,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 25,279 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,842,000 after purchasing an additional 83,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $70.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.99. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.00. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1-year low of $40.58 and a 1-year high of $98.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a $1.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is presently 34.85%.

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.