HMS Capital Management LLC Sells 125 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

HMS Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 7.2% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 230,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,661,000 after buying an additional 15,386 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 108,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,969,000 after buying an additional 14,391 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 384.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 90,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,430,000 after buying an additional 71,558 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 74.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,283,000 after buying an additional 599,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 137,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,487,000 after buying an additional 24,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $94.10 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.50 and its 200-day moving average is $102.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $77.42 and a 52 week high of $129.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted 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 net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 37.11%. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.81.

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.