Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 48.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 128,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 119,906 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $10,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after buying an additional 285,668 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,688,000 after acquiring an additional 27,035 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at $9,801,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth $19,488,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 420,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,914,000 after acquiring an additional 27,230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

SQM opened at $68.74 on Monday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $35.67 and a twelve month high of $98.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.97. 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 price is $76.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. CLSA raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.58.

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.