Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 62.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,040 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Southern Copper by 172.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 578.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SCCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.81.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $97.68 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.91. The company has a market cap of $76.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Southern Copper Co. has a 1 year low of $78.82 and a 1 year high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its 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 return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.81%.

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.