Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,574 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 17,230 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $8,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO traded up $0.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.23. The company had a trading volume of 796,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,936. Southern Copper Co. has a twelve month low of $74.11 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average is $90.39 and its 200 day moving average is $96.30.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.14. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. UBS Group cut 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 report on Tuesday, April 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.50.

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.