Zacks Research Upgrades Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) to “Strong-Buy”

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SQM. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.95.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of SQM opened at $81.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $22.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.67 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.81. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $83.60.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,168,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,040,000 after acquiring an additional 187,767 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,163,000 after purchasing an additional 860,984 shares during the last quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.9% in the second quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 1,842,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,051,000 after buying an additional 644,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.7% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,529,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,729,000 after buying an additional 69,177 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.