Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $2,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of 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 period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SCCO opened at $86.24 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $74.84 and a 12-month high of $127.34.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released 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%. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their target price on 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.58.

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.