Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 285,668 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 7,083.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,668 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $19,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.83.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $85.89 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.95. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.0295 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is 92.98%.

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.