Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 899,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 264,324 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $36,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the first quarter worth $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 396.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 133.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Berenberg Bank started 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $62.80 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.94.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQM traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.80. 1,649,223 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,583. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 52 week low of $32.24 and a 52 week high of $64.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91 and a beta of 1.05.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.24). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 23.15%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.