Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases Shares of 119,791 Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 119,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,869,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 43.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 59.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SQM. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.64.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SQM opened at $78.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.98. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $40.58 and a 12-month high of $98.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $1.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is 54.64%.

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.