JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 599,610 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.18% of Southern Copper worth $162,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 172.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Southern Copper by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 288 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report 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 target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Southern Copper stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.13. 678,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,069. The stock has a market cap of $71.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day moving average is $101.92 and its 200-day moving average is $105.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $77.14 and a 12 month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.16%.

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.