Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 44.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 172.0% during 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. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Southern Copper by 578.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Southern Copper Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $96.40 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.13. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $78.82 and a 12-month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.