New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $12,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 26,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in Southern Copper by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $92.87 on Monday. Southern Copper Co. has a twelve month low of $78.82 and a twelve month high of $129.79. The stock has a market cap of $72.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.61 and a 200 day moving average of $101.93. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

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.