PDS Planning Inc Sells 305 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

PDS Planning Inc trimmed its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 164.8% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 43.7% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on SCCO shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. HSBC lowered Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $76.00.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $109.66 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.98 and a 200 day moving average of $84.90. The stock has a market cap of $84.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $64.66 and a 12 month high of $120.37.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 101.91%.

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.