Clarkson Capital Reiterates Neutral Rating for Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM)

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by research analysts at Clarkson Capital in a research report issued on Thursday. They presently have a $90.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock. Clarkson Capital’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.10% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $81.75 on Thursday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $83.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 44.67 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.06). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.3% during the third quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,168,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,040,000 after purchasing an additional 187,767 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,163,000 after buying an additional 860,984 shares during the period. Kopernik Global Investors LLC boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 1,842,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,051,000 after acquiring an additional 644,129 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,529,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,729,000 after acquiring an additional 69,177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company 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.