Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 396.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 729 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile were worth $37,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 6,315.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SQM. Bank of America cut their price target on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.43.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

SQM stock opened at $38.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.98. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 52 week low of $32.24 and a 52 week high of $66.45. 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 market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.05.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.24). Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 6.25%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.