Wall Street Zen Downgrades Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) to Buy

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. CLSA raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:SQM opened at $67.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.53. The company has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52-week low of $35.67 and a 52-week high of $98.00.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,931,000 after buying an additional 285,668 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,688,000 after acquiring an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth $9,801,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth $19,488,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 420,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,914,000 after acquiring an additional 27,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.