Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.21

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.2134 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has raised its dividend payment by an average of 124.2% per year over the last three years. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a payout ratio of 13.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile to earn $5.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.85 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.1%.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Down 1.9 %

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock opened at $47.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.94. The company has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.33. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a fifty-two week low of $38.50 and a fifty-two week high of $81.50.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 39.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SQM. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Company 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.