AGP Franklin LLC Purchases New Shares in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,109 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $921,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Cadence Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. 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 during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,043 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.58.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,058,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,458. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $74.84 and a 12 month high of $127.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77. The firm's fifty day moving average is $91.36 and its 200 day moving average is $98.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

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.