Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Shares Bought by Outfitter Financial LLC

Outfitter Financial LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 29.3% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 16,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,073 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,108 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,905 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradiem LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 20.7% in the third quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 15,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 2,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE SQM traded down $1.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.83. The company had a trading volume of 508,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,546. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.33. The company has a market capitalization of $13.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.93. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 12-month low of $38.50 and a 12-month high of $81.50.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 39.90% and a net margin of 26.95%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.2134 dividend. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s payout ratio is currently 18.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on SQM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. TheStreet lowered Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.18.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.