Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. $SQM Shares Purchased by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,337,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 350,573 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera were worth $86,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi increased its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 15.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 640,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,842,000 after acquiring an additional 83,738 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter valued at $50,183,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 602.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 502,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,671,000 after acquiring an additional 430,900 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 265,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,504,000 after acquiring an additional 123,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera in the 1st quarter worth $21,297,000. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $64.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $94.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Citigroup raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera from $93.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.56.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Price Performance

NYSE SQM opened at $58.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.49 and its 200-day moving average is $76.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.05. Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. has a 12-month low of $41.94 and a 12-month high of $98.00.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE:SQM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera had a net margin of 20.62% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 136.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a $1.4350 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.85%.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM), commonly known as SQM, is a Chilean chemical and mining company headquartered in Santiago. Founded in 1968, the company develops and produces specialty chemicals and plant nutrients from mineral resources in northern Chile.

SQM is one of the world’s major producers of lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries and other industrial applications. The company also produces iodine and iodine derivatives, potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, industrial chemicals, and specialty plant nutrition products.