Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by HMS Capital Management LLC

HMS Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 451,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,603,000 after purchasing an additional 6,023 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in Southern Copper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 28,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,567,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its position in Southern Copper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 265,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $94.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $73.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.18. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $77.42 and a 52 week high of $129.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 37.11%. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 72.09%.

Southern Copper 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.