Van ECK Associates Corp Has $26.37 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 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 valued at $26,661,000 after purchasing an additional 15,386 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $9,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,391 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 71,558 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Southern Copper by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,283,000 after purchasing an additional 599,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Southern Copper by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 137,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,487,000 after purchasing an additional 24,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $97.41 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.10. 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 firm 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $78.82 and a 12 month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.