Earnest Partners LLC Has $40.63 Million Stock Position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 997,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 22,321 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.35% of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile worth $40,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SQM. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,076,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 13,108 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 1,490.9% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 87,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after acquiring an additional 82,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd now owns 120,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,281,000 after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price 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 research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $62.80 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $47.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.06.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

Shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile stock opened at $41.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68 and a beta of 1.02. 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.19.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last issued its 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). The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 23.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post -0.88 EPS for the current year.

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.