Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its SQM position by 99.0% in the first quarter, leaving it with 22,711 shares worth about $1.84 million.
• Other institutions showed mixed activity: Legal & General sharply increased its stake, while Vanguard also added shares; overall, institutional investors own about 12.41% of SQM.
• SQM reported $1.28 EPS on revenue of $1.76 billion in its latest quarter, and analysts currently have a Hold consensus with a target price of $75.50.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) by 99.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,186,385 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $1,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SQM. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,931,000 after buying an additional 285,668 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $559,000. Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the third quarter worth $1,649,000. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the third quarter worth $1,633,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $44,688,000 after acquiring an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company's stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $73.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $35.67 and a twelve month high of $98.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.83.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. CLSA upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.50.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Profile

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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