Centiva Capital LP Purchases New Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.6% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 11.0% during the third quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 7,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 7,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.63.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SQM stock opened at $74.58 on Monday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $86.13. The firm has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.38 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 2.25.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.11). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a $0.1236 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 30th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is presently 5.85%.

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.