R Squared Ltd Takes $93,000 Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 139,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,718,000 after acquiring an additional 24,987 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in Southern Copper by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 43,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,965,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 21,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.3 %

SCCO stock opened at $92.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.04. The stock has a market cap of $72.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Southern Copper Co. has a twelve month low of $77.42 and a twelve month high of $129.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. 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 3.03%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is 72.16%.

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.