Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Trading Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM)’s stock price dropped 3.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $78.89 and last traded at $79.19. Approximately 384,680 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 1,255,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. CLSA raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.27.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 3.8%

The stock has a market cap of $22.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.98. 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 moving average is $72.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.73.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,688,000 after purchasing an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter worth $9,801,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth $19,488,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 420,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,914,000 after purchasing an additional 27,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

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.