Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Stock Rating Raised to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $71.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $88.00.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on SQM. Zacks Research lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.11.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock traded up $1.03 on Friday, hitting $57.39. 722,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,017,228. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52 week low of $46.51 and a 52 week high of $98.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.10.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during 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 18.20%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s quarterly revenue was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $1.4350 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 35.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,337,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,780,000 after purchasing an additional 350,573 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,842,000 after purchasing an additional 83,738 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,671,000 after buying an additional 430,900 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 347,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,564,000 after buying an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemical company that produces lithium and lithium derivatives, iodine, potassium nitrate, specialty plant nutrients and other industrial chemicals. Its products serve industries including energy storage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

The company’s operations are centered in northern Chile, including the Atacama Desert, where it extracts minerals and other resources from salt flats and mineral deposits.