3,238 Shares in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Bought by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 164.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 277.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC lowered Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. CICC Research began coverage on Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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, 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 research report on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $35,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 600 shares of company stock valued at $63,430. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.5 %

Southern Copper stock opened at $115.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.31. The stock has a market cap of $88.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.66 and a fifty-two week high of $121.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.89.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.03%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

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.