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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded SQM from “strong buy” to “buy.” Overall analyst sentiment is “hold,” with an average price target of $79.30.
• SQM reported quarterly EPS of $2.31, exceeding the $2.03 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $2.47 billion—up 136.7% year over year and above expectations.
• The stock opened at $66.82, with a market capitalization of $19.09 billion and a 52-week range of $40.58 to $98.00; institutional investors own 12.41% of the company.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on SQM. CLSA raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.30.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

SQM stock opened at $66.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.99. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52-week low of $40.58 and a 52-week high of $98.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,257,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,842,000 after buying an additional 83,738 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,671,000 after acquiring an additional 430,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.1% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 265,677 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,504,000 after acquiring an additional 123,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company's stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA NYSE: SQM, commonly known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemicals company headquartered in Santiago. Its operations are centered in northern Chile, where it extracts mineral resources and processes them into products used in agriculture, industry and technology.

SQM is one of the world's major producers of lithium and lithium derivatives, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. The company also produces specialty plant nutrients and potassium-based fertilizers, as well as iodine and iodine derivatives used in areas such as healthcare, nutrition and industrial manufacturing.

In addition, SQM produces industrial chemicals, including potassium chloride, potassium sulfate and certain industrial salts.

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