Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Grows Stock Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of SCCO opened at $86.85 on Wednesday. Southern Copper Co. has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $127.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.70. 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 cap of $69.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share 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 expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. 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 currently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.