Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.00.
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SQM shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 16th. Deutsche Bank set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 13th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 5th. Finally, Santander upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 12th.
SQM stock opened at $42.06 on Friday. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a 52-week low of $36.70 and a 52-week high of $63.30. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.22.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.07). Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 20.13%. The firm had revenue of $543.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.76 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a semiannual dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 5th were paid a $0.3173 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 4th. This represents a yield of 1.49%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.08%.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 1,100.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 7.9% in the third quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 10,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 4.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 1,213,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,485,000 after acquiring an additional 52,943 shares in the last quarter. Federated Investors Inc. PA bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the third quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 650.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 401,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,379,000 after acquiring an additional 348,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.61% of the company’s stock.
