Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Has $292,000 Stock Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. reduced its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 74.6% in 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 buying an additional 599,610 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 115,910.7% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 336,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,915,000 after purchasing an additional 336,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,963,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,796,000 after purchasing an additional 283,562 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 1,601.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 192,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,275,000 after purchasing an additional 181,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth $15,197,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $97.93 on Tuesday. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $84.33 and a 12 month high of $127.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $77.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.88 and a 200-day moving average of $100.61.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its 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 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.31.

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.