Simplicity Solutions LLC Sells 688 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Simplicity Solutions LLC trimmed its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Hartford Financial Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 164.8% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SCCO. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.71.

Southern Copper Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of SCCO opened at $113.42 on Friday. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $64.66 and a 52 week high of $120.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $87.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.21.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.91%.

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.