Lazard Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 77,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,257,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SQM. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,106,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,949,000 after buying an additional 195,142 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,089,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $143,767,000 after acquiring an additional 413,246 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.7% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,529,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,729,000 after acquiring an additional 69,177 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,462,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,640,000 after acquiring an additional 230,132 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,239,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,278,000 after purchasing an additional 578,175 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, CLSA raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

SQM opened at $68.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.23 and its 200-day moving average is $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $35.67 and a twelve month high of $98.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.38%.The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera 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.