Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by Strengthening Families & Communities LLC

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lessened its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,560 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,528 shares during the period. Southern Copper comprises approximately 1.4% of Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $2,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 7.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 230,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,661,000 after buying an additional 15,386 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Southern Copper by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 108,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,391 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Southern Copper by 384.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 90,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,430,000 after purchasing an additional 71,558 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 74.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,283,000 after purchasing an additional 599,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 137,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,487,000 after purchasing an additional 24,933 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $96.99 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. Southern Copper Co. has a twelve month low of $77.42 and a twelve month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 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.