BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Purchases New Position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 283,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,488,000. Sociedad Quimica y Minera comprises approximately 0.4% of BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SQM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,898,000 after purchasing an additional 31,066 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 358,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,249,000 after acquiring an additional 125,506 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 159,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,609,000 after acquiring an additional 44,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 124,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 3,634 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Trading Down 2.7%

SQM opened at $83.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $98.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.95.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 11.99% and a net margin of 15.38%.The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $1.0295 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s payout ratio is 92.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in a report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.83.

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.