Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Stock Moved Down to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded SQM from “strong buy” to “buy,” while broader analyst sentiment remains “hold,” with a consensus price target of $82.56.
• SQM reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $2.31 in EPS and $2.47 billion in revenue; revenue rose 136.7% year over year.
• The stock opened at $60.23, well below its 52-week high of $98.00, while institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s shares.

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

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.56.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

SQM opened at $60.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.05. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a fifty-two week low of $41.94 and a fifty-two week high of $98.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. The company 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%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's quarterly revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,671,000 after buying an additional 430,900 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter worth approximately $21,297,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 265,677 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $21,504,000 after acquiring an additional 123,700 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,869,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company's stock.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA NYSE: SQM is a Chile-based mining and chemicals company that produces lithium, iodine, specialty plant nutrients and industrial chemicals. Its operations are primarily located in northern Chile, where the company extracts mineral resources from the Salar de Atacama and other deposits.

SQM is one of the world's significant producers of lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries, energy-storage systems, electric vehicles and other industrial applications.

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