RWC Asset Management LLP Buys Shares of 257,050 Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

RWC Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 257,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,213,000. RWC Asset Management LLP owned approximately 0.09% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,302,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,093,000 after purchasing an additional 177,323 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,965,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,470,000 after buying an additional 18,255 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,071,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,954,000 after buying an additional 18,748 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth about $35,832,000. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter worth about $37,170,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on SQM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.14.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM opened at $41.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 1.07. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $45.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.71%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($3.04) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.