Algert Global LLC Takes Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 22,550 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,055,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 176.7% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,751 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 5,588 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 22,829 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,080,000 after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 533,640 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $48,631,000 after acquiring an additional 197,209 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 45,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock traded up $2.94 on Monday, hitting $92.32. 1,381,291 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,214,197. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. Southern Copper Co. has a 1 year low of $74.11 and a 1 year high of $126.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a dividend yield of 2.98%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is 61.27%.

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.