Unison Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 62,500 Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM)

Unison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 62,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,547,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 40.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 133.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile by 6,315.8% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE:SQM traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,149,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,240,256. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 242.44 and a beta of 1.05. Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. has a 1-year low of $32.24 and a 1-year high of $70.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.48.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by $2.52. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SQM shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on 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 reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.33.

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.