Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $88.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $55.00. Sociedad Quimica y Minera traded as high as $78.00 and last traded at $76.5510, with a volume of 296612 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $74.40.

SQM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Rothschild Redb upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.41.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 31,066 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,249,000 after buying an additional 125,506 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter worth about $67,759,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 153.0% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 4.1%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.22 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (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 expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.56%.

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.