Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Stock Price Down 4.3%

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)’s share price traded down 4.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $34.59 and last traded at $34.84. 383,233 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 1,234,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.33.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Down 2.0 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.29. The firm has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 68.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by $2.52. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 6.25%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQM. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,407,000 after buying an additional 165,370 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG grew its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 23.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.3% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,019,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,112,000 after buying an additional 86,811 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in 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 grew its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 1.8% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.