Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $10.83 Million Stock Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 173.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 118,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,426 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $10,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Southern Copper by 210.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 578.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.42.

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Southern Copper Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO traded down $3.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.69. 1,939,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,399,747. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $94.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.70. The firm has a market cap of $77.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $84.33 and a 12-month high of $129.79. 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 (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.