Sei Investments Co. Acquires 60,360 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 60,360 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $19,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $96.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $84.33 and a one year high of $127.34.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.42.

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.