Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Bought by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 1,478.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,001 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Southern Copper by 210.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Southern Copper stock opened at $91.02 on Monday. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $84.33 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The stock has a market cap of $71.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $93.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price 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 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.