Scotiabank Has Lowered Expectations for Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Stock Price

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $105.00 to $93.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target points to a potential upside of 39.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. CLSA upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock traded down $2.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.77. 184,096 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,290,192. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1-year low of $35.67 and a 1-year high of $98.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 31,066 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $14,249,000 after buying an additional 125,506 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,545 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 38.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 159,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,609,000 after acquiring an additional 44,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 124,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 3,634 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by 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.