Vantage Investment Partners LLC Purchases 24,987 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 139,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 24,987 shares during the quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $12,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 172.0% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 169.2% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter worth $42,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 578.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank dropped their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $94.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $77.42 and a one year high of $129.79. The company has a market cap of $73.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.45.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.09%.

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.