SailingStone Capital Partners LLC Sells 42,682 Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• SailingStone Capital Partners cut its SQM stake by 91.9%, selling 42,682 shares and retaining 3,745 shares valued at approximately $277,000 at quarter-end.
• SQM reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.31 per share and revenue of $2.47 billion, up 136.7% year over year and above analyst estimates.
• The company declared a $1.435 special dividend. Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $79.90 versus the stock’s reported price of $75.39.

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) by 91.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,745 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 42,682 shares during the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera comprises about 0.1% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,488,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,854,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,842,000 after acquiring an additional 83,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company's stock.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $75.39 on Thursday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $98.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.43 and a 200-day moving average of $78.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market cap of $21.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $1.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's dividend payout ratio is 35.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SQM. Citigroup raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. CLSA raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.90.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

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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