Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda Takes Position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

Key Points

• Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new stake of 305,131 shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) in Q4, valued at about $20.99 million and representing roughly 3.9% of the firm's holdings, making SQM its fourth-largest position.
• Analyst views are mixed: the consensus rating is a "Hold" with an average price target of $71.42, although several firms raised targets (JPMorgan to $93, Scotiabank to $100) and some upgraded the stock to Buy.
• SQM is trading around $91.12 with a market cap of about $26.0 billion, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0295 (annualized $4.12) implying a 4.5% yield

Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 305,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $20,993,000. Sociedad Quimica y Minera accounts for about 3.9% of Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at $1,948,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 420,262 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,914,000 after buying an additional 27,230 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 649,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $44,688,000 after buying an additional 27,035 shares during the period. Sava Infond d.o.o. increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 45,970 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Finally, Journey Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 4th quarter valued at $1,861,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have 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. raised their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $79.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 1.9%

SQM stock opened at $91.12 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $80.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.83. The firm has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.95. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $95.46.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%. On average, analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.0295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera's payout ratio is currently 130.24%.

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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