Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth $47,000. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the second quarter worth $308,000. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at $514,000. Focused Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter valued at $317,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,729,500,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $199.45 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.97. Southern Copper Corporation has a one year low of $92.57 and a one year high of $223.88. The stock has a market cap of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 4.56.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 35.87% and a return on equity of 49.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SCCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. CICC Research downgraded Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Scotiabank reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $138.34 target price (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $146.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total value of $39,751.28. Following the sale, the director owned 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Copper Company Profile

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper’s operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.