Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 91.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 210,685 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Saturna Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 43,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 33,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,009,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 140,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,763,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,197,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 9,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $98.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. Southern Copper Co. has a 1 year low of $84.33 and a 1 year high of $127.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SCCO. UBS Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.31.

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.