Candriam S.C.A. Buys 238,682 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 119,341.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238,682 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $10,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SQM. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.4% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 118,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,162,000 after buying an additional 6,087 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,678,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,767,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 71,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 17,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter worth $776,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on 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. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $70.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $86.13.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

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

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.