Premier Fund Managers Ltd Purchases Shares of 142,200 Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 142,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,801,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 31,066 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,249,000 after buying an additional 125,506 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 3,545 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 159,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,609,000 after buying an additional 44,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 124,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,394,000 after buying an additional 3,634 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. HSBC raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE SQM opened at $93.69 on Thursday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $95.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.03. The stock has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 45.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 6.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a $1.0295 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.85%.

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.