TheStreet Downgrades Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM) to C

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) was downgraded by stock analysts at TheStreet from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, August 24th.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SQM. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Sunday, July 15th. ValuEngine downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 15th. UBS Group upgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Shares of SQM traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.02. 743,300 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,165,623. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 3.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.14. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $64.20.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $638.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $549.92 million. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 21.19%. analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 1,350.5% in the 1st quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 574,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,232,000 after purchasing an additional 534,800 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,957,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,189,000 after purchasing an additional 438,904 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 593.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 411,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,795,000 after purchasing an additional 352,564 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,966,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 577.5% in the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 130,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,251,000 after purchasing an additional 110,906 shares in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.