Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) was upgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has a $88.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SQM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.41.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 4.5%

SQM opened at $77.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.49 and a beta of 0.98. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $78.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.75.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQM. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 118,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 6,087 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,678,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter valued at $776,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 41.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 191,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,764,000 after buying an additional 56,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 46.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 184,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 58,394 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.