Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Shares Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $1,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SQM. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the first quarter worth about $184,773,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 688.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,006,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,618,000 after acquiring an additional 878,933 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 29.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,642,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $264,549,000 after acquiring an additional 831,423 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 44.0% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,445,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $177,626,000 after acquiring an additional 747,037 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 373.7% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 926,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,391,000 after purchasing an additional 730,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.98.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE SQM opened at $44.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.96 and a 200 day moving average of $49.84. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 12-month low of $38.50 and a 12-month high of $81.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 1.07.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 37.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.