Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Takes $702,000 Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 7,698 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $702,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 108,753 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,391 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 74.6% in the third 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 during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 22.2% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 24,933 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter worth $1,397,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,420,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCCO. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.58.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.47. 1,058,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,224,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company's 50 day moving average price is $91.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.21. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $74.84 and a 52-week high of $127.34. The stock 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 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 return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is presently 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.