Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SQM. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $70.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.24 and its 200 day moving average is $59.72. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $86.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 3.27.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given 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 5.85%.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQM. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.