Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Shares Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,144,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 165,370 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.75% of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile worth $105,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQM. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 87.5% during the fourth quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 11,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,611,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,992,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,387,000 after purchasing an additional 172,908 shares during the period. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

SQM traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.33. The stock had a trading volume of 769,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,520. The firm has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 1.04. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 12 month low of $37.24 and a 12 month high of $75.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.37.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.72) by $2.52. The company 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%. Analysts expect that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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 raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $62.80 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.81.

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.