Man Group plc Boosts Stock Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Man Group plc raised its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 82.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,329 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 22,750 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $4,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 137,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,487,000 after acquiring an additional 24,933 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,420,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern Copper by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 237,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,638,000 after purchasing an additional 4,889 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $308,000. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 139,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,718,000 after buying an additional 24,987 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Southern Copper Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $90.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. Southern Copper Co. has a 1-year low of $74.11 and a 1-year high of $119.97.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.27%.

Southern Copper 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.