Brokerages Set Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Price Target at $69.79

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.7917.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Clarkson Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 1.0%

SQM stock opened at $71.53 on Tuesday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $86.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.26. 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 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 business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake 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. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 430.7% during the fourth quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 141,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,768,000 after acquiring an additional 115,222 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 135.8% in the fourth quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 8,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.