11,808 Shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Purchased by Eschler Asset Management LLP

Eschler Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 34.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,908 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,194,000 after acquiring an additional 54,881 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 629,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,069,000 after purchasing an additional 169,613 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 393,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,893,000 after purchasing an additional 42,633 shares during the last quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 80.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 14.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 254,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,934,000 after purchasing an additional 32,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SQM shares. Clarkson Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 2.9%

Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $75.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $86.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were issued 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 5.85%.

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.