Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan upgraded SQM from “neutral” to “overweight” and set a $71 price target, implying 25.92% upside from the stock’s then-current price.
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reported an average “Hold” rating and an $80.11 consensus price target, alongside both buy and sell recommendations.
• SQM’s latest reported quarter exceeded expectations, with EPS of $2.31 versus $2.03 forecast and revenue of $2.47 billion, up 136.7% year over year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $71.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective indicates a potential upside of 25.92% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on SQM. Citigroup raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, October 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.11.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

SQM opened at $56.39 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $65.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.02. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 12-month low of $46.15 and a 12-month high of $98.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 20.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's revenue for the quarter was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,337,746 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $86,780,000 after purchasing an additional 350,573 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,842,000 after acquiring an additional 83,738 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter worth $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,671,000 after purchasing an additional 430,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 0.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 347,836 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $22,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA NYSE: SQM, commonly known as SQM, is a Chilean chemical and mining company headquartered in Santiago. Founded in 1968, the company develops and produces specialty chemicals and plant nutrients from mineral resources in northern Chile.

SQM is one of the world's major producers of lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries and other industrial applications. The company also produces iodine and iodine derivatives, potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, industrial chemicals, and specialty plant nutrition products.

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