Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its SQM stake by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 27,035 more shares and bringing its total holding to 649,528 shares worth about $44.7 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to or established positions in Sociedad Quimica y Minera, and hedge funds and institutions now own 12.41% of the stock.
• SQM reported quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share on revenue of $1.32 billion, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating with a $71.42 average price target.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 649,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 27,035 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.'s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $44,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SQM. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $82,163,000 after buying an additional 860,984 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $72,051,000 after purchasing an additional 644,129 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 277.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 817,223 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,124,000 after purchasing an additional 600,975 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,828,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,239,588 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $53,278,000 after purchasing an additional 578,175 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

Shares of SQM opened at $84.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.41 and a 200 day moving average of $73.12. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $98.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%.The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $1.0295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 130.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SQM shares. Zacks Research lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, HSBC raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.42.

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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