Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Grows Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 210.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Southern Copper were worth $35,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Southern Copper by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern Copper by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,277,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 15,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $92.87 on Friday. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $78.82 and a 52-week high of $129.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.61 and a 200 day moving average of $101.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.13. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (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, research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.81.

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.