Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Price Target Raised to $93.00

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $79.00 to $93.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rothschild Redb raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE SQM opened at $83.83 on Tuesday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $84.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.03. The company has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81 and a beta of 0.98. 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 issued 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 net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter worth about $32,432,000. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 369.9% during the third quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 1,113,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,871,000 after purchasing an additional 876,754 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% during 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 in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 112.4% in the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,232,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,980,000 after purchasing an additional 652,257 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,051,000 after purchasing an additional 644,129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.