Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $534,000 Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 216,969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,772,000 after purchasing an additional 24,398 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at $2,055,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 176.7% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,751 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 5,588 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 22,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,080,000 after buying an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 533,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,631,000 after acquiring an additional 197,209 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $89.34 on Friday. Southern Copper Co. has a twelve month low of $74.11 and a twelve month high of $126.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 61.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SCCO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Southern Copper from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

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.