WP Advisors LLC Takes Position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

WP Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 153.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQM has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $62.80 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.98.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Price Performance

SQM traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.99. 1,463,877 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 940,945. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.84. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1 year low of $38.50 and a 1 year high of $81.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 37.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile 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.