Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.64 and last traded at $69.2530, with a volume of 554705 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $36.50 to $43.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.75.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.65.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 573,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,784,000 after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 84.5% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 81,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 37,300 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,027,000 after buying an additional 24,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 61,700.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.