Raymond James & Associates Boosts Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 76.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,362 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Southern Copper were worth $4,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Southern Copper by 43.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $46,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $116.97 on Friday. Southern Copper Co. has a 1-year low of $64.66 and a 1-year high of $117.86. The stock has a market cap of $90.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.46.

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

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.83.

Southern Copper Company Profile

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.