abrdn plc Raises Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

abrdn plc lifted its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,041,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 67,930 shares during the quarter. Southern Copper accounts for approximately 0.6% of abrdn plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.39% of Southern Copper worth $261,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SCCO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sector underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.71.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $113.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,188,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,186,562. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $96.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $87.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.29. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $64.66 and a 52-week high of $120.37.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Southern Copper's 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.