Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. Has $10.03 Million Stock Holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,539 shares during the period. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile accounts for approximately 1.0% of Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $10,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 3rd quarter worth $63,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 39.5% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQM has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet lowered shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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 report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.18.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE SQM traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $48.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,364,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,510. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 12 month low of $38.50 and a 12 month high of $81.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 39.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.2134 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.30%.

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.