Nykredit A S Acquires Shares of 37,229 Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Nykredit A/S initiated a position in SQM, purchasing 37,229 shares valued at approximately $2.76 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 12.41% of the company.
• SQM reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.31 per share versus the $2.03 estimate and revenue of $2.47 billion, up 136.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: SQM has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $79.30, while the company also paid a special dividend of $1.435 per share in September.

Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 37,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,756,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $19,931,000 after purchasing an additional 285,668 shares during the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth about $19,488,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,854,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 292.0% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 33,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 25,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $51,842,000 after buying an additional 83,738 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SQM shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.30.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 1.1%

SQM stock opened at $70.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $40.58 and a twelve month high of $98.00. The company has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.85 and a 200-day moving average of $78.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a $1.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's payout ratio is currently 34.85%.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA NYSE: SQM, commonly known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemicals company headquartered in Santiago. Its operations are centered in northern Chile, where it extracts mineral resources and processes them into products used in agriculture, industry and technology.

SQM is one of the world's major producers of lithium and lithium derivatives, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. The company also produces specialty plant nutrients and potassium-based fertilizers, as well as iodine and iodine derivatives used in areas such as healthcare, nutrition and industrial manufacturing.

In addition, SQM produces industrial chemicals, including potassium chloride, potassium sulfate and certain industrial salts.

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