Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 9th

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.2134 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has raised its dividend payment by an average of 124.2% annually over the last three years. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a dividend payout ratio of 13.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile to earn $5.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.85 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.1%.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

Shares of SQM stock opened at $47.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.33. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a fifty-two week low of $38.50 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.97. The company has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.10.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 39.90%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.18.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.