35,258 Shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Acquired by Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 35,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,854,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after purchasing an additional 285,668 shares during the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter valued at about $559,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 73.5% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 491,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,113,000 after buying an additional 208,147 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,688,000 after buying an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter worth about $1,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $72.63 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 52 week low of $35.37 and a 52 week high of $98.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.97.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.38%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $1.0295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SQM shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $100.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. CLSA raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

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.