Driehaus Capital Management LLC Purchases 217,546 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,028,848 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 217,546 shares during the period. Southern Copper makes up 0.8% of Driehaus Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned 0.13% of Southern Copper worth $93,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised 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 buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southern Copper from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.50.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE:SCCO traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $92.32. 1,380,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,432,646. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $74.84 and a 12 month high of $129.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $90.37 and a 200 day moving average of $95.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $73.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

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