Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 28.0% in 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 during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 0.6% during the 4th 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 boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 0.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.7% during the 4th 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 and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SCCO shares. UBS Group raised Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.31.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $97.93 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $93.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.61. The company has a market cap of $77.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $84.33 and a 12-month high of $127.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.