LPL Financial LLC Increases Stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM – Get Rating) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 7,735 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $2,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter valued at about $184,773,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 373.7% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 926,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,391,000 after purchasing an additional 730,931 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 4th quarter worth about $53,992,000. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 61,196.7% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 617,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,282,000 after purchasing an additional 616,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,195,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $99,819,000 after acquiring an additional 466,002 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.42% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SQM opened at $71.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 12-month low of $60.21 and a 12-month high of $115.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.58. The firm has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 5.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The basic materials company reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 35.24% and a return on equity of 88.08%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 12.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th were issued a $3.2237 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $12.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.14%. This is an increase from Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SQM. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $134.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a research report on Friday. They set a “sell” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.38.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA engages in the production and distribution of fertilizers, potassium nitrate, iodine, and lithium chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Specialty Plant Nutrients, Iodine and Derivatives, Lithium and Derivatives, Industrial Chemicals, Potassium, and Other Products and Services.