CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Boosts Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 259,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 32,515 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $23,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.58.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $86.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.07. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $74.84 and a fifty-two week high of $127.34.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 64.81%.

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.