Mariner LLC Increases Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,397,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 71,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,256,000 after acquiring an additional 16,805 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 108,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,772,000 after purchasing an additional 23,539 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 2.1% in the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.58.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock opened at $86.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market cap of $69.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.10 and its 200 day moving average is $97.73. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $74.84 and a 52 week high of $127.34.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share 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%. Research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

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.