Blue Trust Inc. Has $168,000 Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 62.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,839 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,040 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 230,495 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,661,000 after acquiring an additional 15,386 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 108,753 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,391 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 384.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 90,173 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,430,000 after acquiring an additional 71,558 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 599,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 22.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 24,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO traded down $4.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.87. 1,104,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,183,960. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $78.82 and a 52-week high of $129.79. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $94.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.91. The company has a market capitalization of $72.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.81.

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.