Van ECK Associates Corp Has $72.05 Million Stock Position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 62.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 644,129 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.59% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $72,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 111.5% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 3,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 1,935 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 73.5% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 491,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,113,000 after purchasing an additional 208,147 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 277.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 817,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,124,000 after purchasing an additional 600,975 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter worth about $277,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter worth about $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up 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 report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 2.2%

SQM opened at $76.69 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.25. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $86.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a $0.1236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is presently 5.85%.

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.