Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Upgraded by Citigroup to Buy Rating

Key Points

• Citigroup upgraded SQM from “neutral” to “buy” and set a $95 price target, implying approximately 21.3% upside from the reported share price.
• SQM reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.31 versus the $2.03 consensus and revenue of $2.47 billion, up 136.7% year over year.
• Despite several recent analyst upgrades, the stock’s overall consensus remains “Hold”, with an average price target of $78.18; institutional investors own 12.41% of the company.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $95.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock. Citigroup's price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.33% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. CLSA upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.18.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

Shares of SQM stock opened at $78.30 on Thursday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52-week low of $40.58 and a 52-week high of $98.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.82.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's quarterly revenue was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.4 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,756,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the second quarter worth approximately $6,576,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter worth approximately $8,869,000. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 11.6% during the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 55,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter valued at $407,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company's stock.

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.

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