abrdn plc Increases Position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

abrdn plc lifted its stake in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,849,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,909 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $260,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SkyOak Wealth LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 40.6% during the fourth quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 3,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 137,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,487,000 after purchasing an additional 24,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth $93,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SCCO shares. 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 research note on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:SCCO opened at $89.85 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $96.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.71. Southern Copper Co. has a 1-year low of $77.42 and a 1-year high of $129.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.13.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.09%.

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.