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

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 21,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,950,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 66,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the last quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 38,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $308,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on SCCO shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $96.52 on Monday. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $77.42 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The company has a market cap of $75.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.09%.

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.