BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Takes Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 50,370 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,590,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,397,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 3.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 613,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,437,000 after acquiring an additional 20,204 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 30.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 71,376 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,256,000 after acquiring an additional 16,805 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 108,633 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,772,000 after acquiring an additional 23,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SCCO. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.50.

Southern Copper Trading Up 3.6 %

Southern Copper stock traded up $3.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $92.30. 1,578,354 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,858. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $74.84 and a fifty-two week high of $127.34. The firm's 50 day moving average is $90.82 and its 200-day moving average is $97.64. 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 has a market capitalization of $73.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors 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 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.