Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Position Trimmed by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 89.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,722 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $84,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 164.8% in 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. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.71.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock opened at $113.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $64.66 and a one year high of $120.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.68 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.21.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

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

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.