Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Increases Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 58.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 94,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,852 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $8,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO opened at $94.11 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. The company has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.69. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $84.33 and a 12-month high of $127.34.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. Research analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share 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 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SCCO. 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.42.

Southern Copper Company 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.