Americana Partners LLC Sells 5,892 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Americana Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,250 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,892 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $162,283,000 after acquiring an additional 599,610 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Southern Copper by 115,910.7% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 336,431 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,915,000 after buying an additional 336,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,963,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $342,796,000 after buying an additional 283,562 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 11,510.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 189,716 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,944,000 after buying an additional 188,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Southern Copper by 1,601.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 192,571 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,275,000 after buying an additional 181,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective 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 objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.81.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO stock traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $97.58. 664,446 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,173,070. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $78.82 and a 52-week high of $129.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. Research analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper's payout ratio 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.