Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $87.10 and last traded at $86.9180, with a volume of 556671 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $82.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SQM. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. HSBC upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Zacks Research downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.42.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.85. The stock has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 43.25 and a beta of 0.95.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 12.85%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $1.0295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio is 5.85%.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the 4th quarter worth about $69,257,000. RWC Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 369.9% in the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 1,113,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,871,000 after acquiring an additional 876,754 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,911,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,163,000 after acquiring an additional 860,984 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 112.4% in the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 1,232,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 652,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,051,000 after acquiring an additional 644,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM) is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals and minerals headquartered in Santiago, Chile. The company focuses on the extraction and processing of key inputs for the agricultural, industrial and high‐tech sectors. Its core business activities include the mining of lithium, potassium and iodine, as well as the manufacture of value‐added products derived from these raw materials.

SQM’s product portfolio spans lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems; potassium chloride and potassium nitrate fertilizers designed for precision agriculture; and iodine and its derivatives for pharmaceutical, food and electronics applications.