American Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

American Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,588 shares during the period. American Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 172.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 169.2% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 578.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.81.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $97.41 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $78.82 and a 52-week high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 37.11% and a net margin of 27.67%. Analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.09%.

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.