Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Acquires 34,852 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 58.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,852 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $8,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Cadence Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.8 %

SCCO opened at $94.11 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.69. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $84.33 and a 52 week high of $127.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SCCO shares. UBS Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.