Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Trading 4.5% Higher

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) shot up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.39 and last traded at $49.64. 424,822 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,339,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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 note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.68.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.67 and its 200-day moving average is $48.82.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 30.40% and a net margin of 6.25%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.2134 per share. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. CWM LLC lifted 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 worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 133.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 6,315.8% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

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.