Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 14.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SCCO. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $279,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 35,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 5,302 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 107.2% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock opened at $96.33 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $105.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.37. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $68.93 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.17.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a net margin of 26.15% and a return on equity of 34.98%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SCCO. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern Copper from $81.70 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.57.

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.