Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Shares Purchased by Peregrine Investment Management Inc.

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 58.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 219,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 80,970 shares during the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera accounts for about 4.6% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $9,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter worth $32,432,000. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 876,754 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 652,257 shares in the last quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 1,842,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 119,341.0% in the 3rd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 238,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,267,000 after buying an additional 238,682 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 6.9%

Shares of NYSE SQM opened at $70.07 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $86.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $20.02 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SQM. Citigroup cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. HSBC raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Clarkson Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.79.

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.