Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Shares Sold by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,814 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $4,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SQM. RWC Asset Management LLP lifted 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,163,000 after purchasing an additional 860,984 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% during the third 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. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 277.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 817,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,124,000 after purchasing an additional 600,975 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SQM shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, March 27th. HSBC upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 8.7%

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $95.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.82. The firm has a market cap of $27.21 billion, a PE ratio of 46.47 and a beta of 0.95. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $95.46.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.0295 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is 5.85%.

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.