Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Holdings Reduced by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) by 73.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,294 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 325,454 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $6,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SQM. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 3rd quarter worth $9,794,000. abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 4.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,643,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $157,712,000 after buying an additional 119,695 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 73,776 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,402,000 after acquiring an additional 12,759 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,992,151 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $120,387,000 after acquiring an additional 172,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. lifted its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 98.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 153,080 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,134,000 after acquiring an additional 75,849 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SQM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Scotiabank dropped their price target 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 research note on Monday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $48.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,364,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,510. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1-year low of $38.50 and a 1-year high of $81.50. The stock's fifty day moving average is $47.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.93.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 39.90%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.2134 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's payout ratio is currently 18.30%.

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.