BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Makes New Investment in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 50,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.58.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $86.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $68.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. Southern Copper Co. has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $127.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

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.