Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Bought by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,021 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $2,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $726,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $245,000. First National Trust Co boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 37,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 107.2% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SCCO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. CICC Research started coverage on Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 600 shares of company stock worth $63,430 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.5 %

Southern Copper stock traded down $2.97 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $115.07. 1,000,597 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,184,883. Southern Copper Co. has a 52-week low of $64.66 and a 52-week high of $121.00. The firm has a market cap of $88.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.89.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.44% and a net margin of 24.20%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Southern Copper 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.