Sei Investments Co. Acquires 60,360 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 40.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 209,390 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,360 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $19,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 56,279 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,559 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 78,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,124,000 after buying an additional 5,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on SCCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.42.

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Southern Copper Stock Performance

Southern Copper stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $93.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,138,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,194,629. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.65. Southern Copper Co. has a 1-year low of $84.33 and a 1-year high of $127.34. The company has a market cap of $74.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. 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 is 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.