Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC recently acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM), purchasing 10,502 shares valued at approximately $417,000 in the first quarter.
• Multiple large investors, including National Bank of Canada and Deutsche Bank AG, have significantly increased their holdings in SQM, indicating heightened interest from institutional investors.
• SQM's stock has seen a 0.8% decline recently, trading at $45.16, despite a market capitalization of $12.90 billion and various analysts providing mixed ratings and target prices.

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,502 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,965,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $71,470,000 after acquiring an additional 18,255 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,071,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,954,000 after acquiring an additional 18,748 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,832,000. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter valued at about $37,170,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 573,467 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,784,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on SQM shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.50.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of SQM stock traded down $0.6170 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $45.5130. 349,529 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,219. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $47.39. The stock has a market cap of $13.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $37.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.27.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.15). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 13.45%.The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($3.04) EPS. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.