HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 3,362 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,362 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Southern Copper by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $100.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $84.33 and a 12 month high of $127.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.57. The stock has a market cap of $80.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. Research analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. 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. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.31.

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.