Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Trims Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI cut its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $2,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 10.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,797,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $594,595,000 after purchasing an additional 756,555 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Southern Copper by 200.6% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,179,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789,376 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern Copper by 43.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,763,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $209,759,000 after acquiring an additional 835,044 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Southern Copper by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,660,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $190,832,000 after acquiring an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Southern Copper by 2.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,848,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $139,156,000 after acquiring an additional 43,547 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE SCCO traded up $1.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $108.60. 267,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,054,211. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 1.29. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $87.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.45. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $64.66 and a 12 month high of $108.63.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 101.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.83.

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.