Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,745 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $26,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 172.0% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 169.2% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.81.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SCCO opened at $97.41 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $78.82 and a 1-year high of $129.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13.

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 27.67% and a return on equity of 37.11%. Analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.09%.

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.