Analysts Set Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Price Target at $94.86

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM – Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.86.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $103.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $100.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $122.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $78.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 16th.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $92.79 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $92.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.63. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a fifty-two week low of $46.13 and a fifty-two week high of $115.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.86.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The basic materials company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $1.56. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 30.17% and a return on equity of 40.37%. Analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post 12.58 EPS for the current year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.7872 per share. This is an increase from Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $11.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 2nd. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 201.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SQM. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the first quarter valued at $184,773,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 2,944.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,772,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,365,000 after buying an additional 1,713,851 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 21.8% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 1,753,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $150,100,000 after buying an additional 313,600 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 7.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,498,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,249,000 after purchasing an additional 108,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 25.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,074,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,974,000 after purchasing an additional 216,917 shares in the last quarter. 19.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

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Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its 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.

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