Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies increased its SQM stake by 602% in the first quarter, purchasing 430,900 additional shares to own 502,484 shares valued at approximately $40.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: SQM has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $74.58, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell.
• SQM reported first-quarter earnings of $1.28 per share on $1.76 billion in revenue, while its shares opened at $68.90 and remain below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) by 602.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 502,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 430,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.18% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera worth $40,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 656 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 441 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. CLSA upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.58.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock opened at $68.90 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $75.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.75. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $35.67 and a 12-month high of $98.00. The firm has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 11.99%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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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