Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Shares Purchased by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SQM. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at $120,395,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 804,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,267,000 after acquiring an additional 177,898 shares during the period. North of South Capital LLP lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 597,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,709,000 after acquiring an additional 95,564 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 8.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 265,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,068,000 after acquiring an additional 21,778 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 15.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 152,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,337,000 after acquiring an additional 20,616 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SQM shares. StockNews.com raised Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.56.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Down 0.3 %

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock opened at $45.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a PE ratio of -40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.18. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 52 week low of $32.24 and a 52 week high of $51.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a positive return on equity of 16.12% and a negative net margin of 6.74%. Equities research analysts predict that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company Profile

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA operates as a mining company worldwide. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers under Ultrasol, Qrop, Speedfol, Allganic, Ultrasoline, ProP, and Prohydric brands. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, agricultural, industrial, and human and animal nutrition products comprising x-ray contrast media, biocides, antiseptics and disinfectants, pharmaceutical intermediates, polarizing films for LCD and LED screens, chemicals, organic compounds, and pigments, as well as added to edible salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.