Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,148 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SCCO. Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 69.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 782 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter worth about $40,000. 7.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Andreve Vicente Ariztegui sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.11, for a total transaction of $114,165.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $334,884. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SCCO. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern Copper from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Southern Copper from $55.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Southern Copper from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.14.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $76.12 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.46. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $42.42 and a 12 month high of $82.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 4.20 and a quick ratio of 3.38.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.37. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 33.31% and a net margin of 26.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 8th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.96%.

Southern Copper Profile

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Southern Copper Corp. engages in the development, production, and exploration of copper, molybdenum, zinc, and silver. It operates through the following segments: Peruvian Operations, Mexican Open-Pit Operations, and Mexican Underground Mining Operations. The Peruvian Operations segment focuses on the Toquepala and Cuajone mine complexes and the smelting and refining plants, industrial railroad, and port facilities that service both mines.

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