Quantbot Technologies LP Reduces Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,264 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 32,320 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $7,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 worth $162,283,000 after purchasing an additional 599,610 shares during the period. 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 worth $38,915,000 after buying an additional 336,141 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 10.6% during 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position 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 period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,197,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Southern Copper Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of SCCO traded down $3.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $97.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,939,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,669. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $84.33 and a one year high of $127.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $94.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.70. The company has a market capitalization of $77.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. 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 (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group raised Southern Copper from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Three 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.42.

Southern Copper Company 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.