JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) Price Target to $88.00

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $94.00 to $88.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 28.11% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, CLSA raised shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.30.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of SQM traded down $3.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.69. The company had a trading volume of 241,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,988. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.05. Sociedad Quimica y Minera has a 52 week low of $40.58 and a 52 week high of $98.00. The company has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 20.62%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 136.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Quimica y Minera will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the fourth quarter worth about $69,257,000. Amundi grew its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,842,000 after buying an additional 83,738 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,671,000 after buying an additional 430,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 7,083.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 289,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after buying an additional 285,668 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM), commonly known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemicals company headquartered in Santiago. Its operations are centered in northern Chile, where it extracts mineral resources and processes them into products used in agriculture, industry and technology.

SQM is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and lithium derivatives, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. The company also produces specialty plant nutrients and potassium-based fertilizers, as well as iodine and iodine derivatives used in areas such as healthcare, nutrition and industrial manufacturing.

In addition, SQM produces industrial chemicals, including potassium chloride, potassium sulfate and certain industrial salts.