Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Upgraded at Hsbc Global Res

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Hsbc Global Res to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on SQM. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.68.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 3.3%

SQM stock opened at $80.09 on Monday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $83.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $67.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.82. The company has a market capitalization of $22.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.76 and a beta of 0.98.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.06). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 103,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,095,000 after buying an additional 23,740 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 25,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,720,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

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.