Novem Group Takes Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Novem Group acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter worth $1,106,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Southern Copper by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 0.7%

SCCO opened at $90.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $72.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $90.53 and its 200 day moving average is $94.52. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $74.11 and a fifty-two week high of $119.97.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SCCO. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southern Copper from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

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.