Henry James International Management Inc. Sells 4,300 Shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Henry James International Management Inc. decreased its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,300 shares during the quarter. Henry James International Management Inc.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $1,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 64,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,823,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 9,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 23,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SQM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

Shares of SQM traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $47.68. 835,356 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,163,604. The stock has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.58 and a 200-day moving average of $49.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.49. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 52 week low of $38.50 and a 52 week high of $81.50.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 37.86% and a net margin of 26.95%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.2134 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.30%.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Profile

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.