Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $43.93, but opened at $42.74. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile shares last traded at $42.60, with a volume of 110,753 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on SQM shares. Berenberg Bank started coverage on 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $62.80 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.69.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Down 3.4 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $12.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 385.73 and a beta of 1.02.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.75 earnings per share (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 23.15% and a net margin of 0.48%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post -0.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 41.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 899,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,661,000 after acquiring an additional 264,324 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the second quarter valued at $8,592,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 8.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,407,000 after acquiring an additional 165,370 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 18.9% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 612,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,961,000 after acquiring an additional 97,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.3% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,019,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,112,000 after acquiring an additional 86,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.41% of the company’s stock.

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.