Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Stock Holdings Cut by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lowered its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 161,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,048 shares during the period. Strs Ohio's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $13,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SCCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 283,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $21,523,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,974 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,901 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth about $388,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 121.4% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $13,138,000 after purchasing an additional 94,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,022,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $532,978,000 after purchasing an additional 680,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SCCO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.83.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE SCCO traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $114.15. 1,336,185 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,216. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $64.66 and a 52-week high of $120.37. The company has a market capitalization of $88.25 billion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The firm's 50-day moving average is $94.73 and its 200-day moving average is $83.50.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 101.91%.

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.