Everstar Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Everstar Asset Management LLC has made a new investment of $429,000 in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE: SQM), acquiring 10,796 shares during the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors have also boosted their stakes in SQM, with Nuveen LLC leading with an investment of approximately $39.15 million.
• Sociedad Quimica y Minera reported earnings of $0.31 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, while revenue was down 19.4% year-over-year.

Everstar Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,796 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.6% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,315 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 14,860 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 61,700.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 618 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $36.50 to $43.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.08.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.96. The stock had a trading volume of 842,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,960. The firm has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12 and a beta of 1.07. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $47.51. The business's 50-day moving average is $41.60 and its 200 day moving average is $38.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 11.29%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Profile

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.