Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 23,471 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 23,471 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,738,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1,417.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 407,912 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,173,000 after buying an additional 381,035 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Southern Copper by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,146,537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $104,484,000 after buying an additional 355,013 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 998,923 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $91,032,000 after buying an additional 331,319 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern Copper by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,028,848 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $93,759,000 after acquiring an additional 217,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SCCO shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Southern Copper from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Southern Copper Stock Up 0.2%

Southern Copper stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $92.65. The stock had a trading volume of 246,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,016. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.01. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $74.11 and a fifty-two week high of $118.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.56. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a dividend yield of 2.98%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.27%.

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.