Blue Square Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Southern Copper comprises approximately 1.8% of Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 230,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,661,000 after purchasing an additional 15,386 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Southern Copper by 384.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 90,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,430,000 after purchasing an additional 71,558 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 74.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,283,000 after buying an additional 599,610 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 108,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,397,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $96.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $77.42 and a one year high of $129.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.61.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.