Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SQM shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 8.7%

NYSE:SQM opened at $45.90 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $47.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 1.03.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($3.04) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth $5,619,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,071,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,954,000 after purchasing an additional 18,748 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter worth about $642,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 121.9% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 61,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 33,797 shares during the period. Finally, White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 15,879 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

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.