Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 1,605,738 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 99.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,605,738 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SCCO. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised 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 worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 578.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $94.11 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.69. Southern Copper Co. has a 52 week low of $84.33 and a 52 week high of $127.34. The stock has a market cap of $74.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.42.

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.