Ridgewood Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SQM. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. CWM LLC raised 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Trading Up 0.9 %

SQM opened at $40.77 on Friday. 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $46.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.11.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by $2.52. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 30.74%. As a group, research analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.2134 per share. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $54.50 to $46.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.78.

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.