DAVENPORT & Co LLC Acquires New Shares in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $116.46 on Wednesday. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $64.66 and a one year high of $117.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.39 and its 200 day moving average is $82.05. The stock has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 101.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SCCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.83.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.