Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.64 and last traded at $69.2530, with a volume of 554705 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday. Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, September 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.75.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.55 and a 200-day moving average of $44.65. The firm has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.82.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.06). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the second quarter valued at $67,759,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,432,000. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 369.9% in the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 1,113,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,871,000 after purchasing an additional 876,754 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,163,000 after purchasing an additional 860,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 112.4% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,232,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,980,000 after purchasing an additional 652,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.