International Assets Investment Management LLC Takes $2.61 Million Position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 43,358 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,611,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. abrdn plc increased its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,643,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $157,712,000 after buying an additional 119,695 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.5% in the fourth 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. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 37.2% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,747,264 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $104,259,000 after purchasing an additional 474,000 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 5.3% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 1,523,519 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,908,000 after purchasing an additional 76,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 127.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,070,851 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $63,898,000 after purchasing an additional 599,728 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock traded down $1.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,139,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,139,564. The stock has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64 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 52 week low of $38.50 and a 52 week high of $81.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.87.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 39.90%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.2134 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile's payout ratio is 7.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SQM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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 $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Profile

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.