Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 5,248 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 2.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 225,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,248 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $24,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 18.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,771,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $827,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,111 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,349,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $288,333,000 after purchasing an additional 39,422 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth about $340,373,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,541,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $164,190,000 after buying an additional 544,312 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,014,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,306,000 after buying an additional 18,883 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.4 %

Southern Copper stock opened at $105.31 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $82.26 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $106.97 and its 200 day moving average is $104.79. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $68.93 and a 12-month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 26.15% and a return on equity of 34.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SCCO. UBS Group started coverage on Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, July 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $81.70 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.57.

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.