TIAA Trust National Association Boosts Stock Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $151,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 972,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,638,000 after acquiring an additional 18,426 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 135,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,380,000 after buying an additional 9,966 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $94.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77. Southern Copper Co. has a 1 year low of $84.33 and a 1 year high of $127.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.64.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.42.

Southern Copper Company 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.