Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Takes $382,000 Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 456.9% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 91,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,319,000 after acquiring an additional 74,894 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 641,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,180,000 after purchasing an additional 28,479 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Southern Copper by 10,593.9% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 45,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,152,000 after purchasing an additional 45,130 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at $2,854,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $14,617,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $94.41 on Thursday. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $84.33 and a one year high of $127.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $75.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. Analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.42.

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.