Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $62.80 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $52.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 21.75% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SQM. TheStreet downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.58.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE SQM opened at $51.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.27. The company has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.07. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a 12 month low of $38.50 and a 12 month high of $83.67.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 37.86%. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 153.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

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