Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $8.42 Million Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 92,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,420,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at about $456,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 12,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.42.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $100.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $80.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.60. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $84.33 and a one year high of $127.34.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

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.