Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives $59.75 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.4091.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SQM. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of SQM opened at $80.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.22 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.22 and its 200-day moving average is $50.07. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $81.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 12.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were paid a $0.1236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is 6.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after buying an additional 31,066 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,249,000 after acquiring an additional 125,506 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 1st quarter valued at $7,346,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 2nd quarter worth $67,759,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.