Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 69,035 Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 45.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 82,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 69,035 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $7,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $44,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.4 %

SCCO opened at $109.25 on Thursday. Southern Copper Co. has a 1-year low of $64.66 and a 1-year high of $120.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $84.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $98.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.07.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.00.

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.