Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 87,076 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH reduced its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 19.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 354,337 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 87,076 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $33,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Southern Copper by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 56,279 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,559 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Southern Copper by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 209,390 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,082,000 after purchasing an additional 60,360 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter worth about $3,273,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 135,849 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,380,000 after purchasing an additional 9,966 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Southern Copper from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Southern Copper from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $86.00 to $99.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $83.50 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.00.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.22. 992,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,602,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.02. Southern Copper Corporation has a one year low of $74.84 and a one year high of $121.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The company's 50 day moving average is $97.12 and its 200 day moving average is $93.86.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 39.39% and a net margin of 30.00%. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.01 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous -- dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.