DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Increases Holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 216.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 8.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,407,000 after buying an additional 165,370 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 23.4% during the first quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 1,407,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,200,000 after acquiring an additional 267,005 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.3% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,019,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,112,000 after purchasing an additional 86,811 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 41.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 899,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,661,000 after purchasing an additional 264,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 862,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,140,000 after purchasing an additional 15,604 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SQM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.06.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of SQM stock opened at $36.90 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1-year low of $32.24 and a 1-year high of $64.62. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 1.02.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.24). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 0.48%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post -0.88 EPS for the current year.

About Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.