Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. CLSA upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

NYSE SQM opened at $67.11 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a one year low of $35.74 and a one year high of $98.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.71 and a 200 day moving average of $78.43. The company has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.76.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter worth $43,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.