Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from six ratings firms, with one sell rating, two holds, and three buy ratings.
• The average twelve-month price target among analysts for SQM is $42.50, with recent adjustments leading to a target range between $41.00 and $45.00.
• The company's latest earnings report indicated an EPS of $0.48, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63, with revenue down 4.4% year-over-year to $1.04 billion.

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

Several research firms have commented on SQM. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:SQM traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,934,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,460. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $47.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.15). Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($3.04) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter worth approximately $67,759,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter worth approximately $39,154,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,832,000. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter worth approximately $37,170,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the second quarter worth approximately $32,432,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company's stock.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.