Moran Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Moran Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 9,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 174,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,655,000 after acquiring an additional 32,883 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1,478.3% during the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 3,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Southern Copper by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE SCCO opened at $90.30 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.71 and its 200 day moving average is $100.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. 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 $84.33 and a 1 year high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on SCCO shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.31.

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.