Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Upgraded to “Buy” by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

SQM has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a hold rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $57.33.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE:SQM opened at $35.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 242.44 and a beta of 1.05. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has a 52 week low of $32.24 and a 52 week high of $66.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day moving average of $44.36.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the second quarter worth approximately $989,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 488,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,921,000 after purchasing an additional 13,756 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 216.4% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 78,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 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.