Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $75.63, but opened at $68.27. Sociedad Quimica y Minera shares last traded at $67.5890, with a volume of 601,163 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on SQM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.79.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.12. 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 $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The company’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.1236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth $1,001,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,553,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 28,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 18,825 shares in the last quarter. 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.