Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $88.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $55.00. Sociedad Quimica y Minera traded as high as $78.00 and last traded at $76.5510, with a volume of 296612 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.40.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SQM. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup lowered shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SQM. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.6% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 153.0% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.22 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is 6.56%.

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.