Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Stake Cut by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 22.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 230,537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 66,005 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.08% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $14,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 35.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,337,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,780,000 after buying an additional 350,573 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,842,000 after acquiring an additional 83,738 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter valued at $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,671,000 after acquiring an additional 430,900 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 347,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.11.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of SQM stock opened at $53.89 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $51.29 and a fifty-two week high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.33.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue for the quarter was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a $1.4350 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.85%.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemical company that produces lithium and lithium derivatives, iodine, potassium nitrate, specialty plant nutrients and other industrial chemicals. Its products serve industries including energy storage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. The company’s operations are centered in northern Chile, including the Atacama Desert, where it extracts minerals and other resources from salt flats and mineral deposits. SQM sells its products to customers in Chile and international markets.