Planned Solutions Inc. Takes Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Southern Copper in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Southern Copper by 43.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.83.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $104.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19. The firm has a market cap of $80.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.89. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $64.66 and a one year high of $106.92.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 101.91%.

About Southern Copper

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.