Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Shares Gap Up to $47.61

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $47.61, but opened at $48.98. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile shares last traded at $49.84, with a volume of 282,709 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on SQM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 15th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.58.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average is $45.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 1.07.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 37.86% and a net margin of 26.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 1.8% during the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,123 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 3.2% during the third quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 7.6% during the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 2,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 4.0% during the second quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 5,035 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company's stock.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.