Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts collectively rate SQM “Hold.” Of 15 covering firms, eight recommend holding, five recommend buying, one rates it a strong buy and one recommends selling; the average 12-month price target is $75.27.
• SQM reported better-than-expected quarterly results: earnings per share came in at $2.31 versus the $2.03 consensus, while revenue reached $2.47 billion, up 136.7% year over year and above expectations.
• The stock recently traded at $82.12, up 4.7%. SQM has a $23.46 billion market capitalization, and hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of its shares.

Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.2727.

SQM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $93.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. CLSA raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 43.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 822 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 59.5% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Up 4.7%

NYSE:SQM opened at $82.12 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $98.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $72.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.98.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 19th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

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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