HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 6,195 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 11.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,195 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $10,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 42.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,194,000 after purchasing an additional 13,293 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 17.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Southern Copper by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Southern Copper by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,424,000 after buying an additional 19,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $158.10 price target (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. CICC Research downgraded Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $146.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Luis Palomino Bonilla sold 202 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 504 shares of company stock valued at $97,077. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Copper Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $209.76 on Thursday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52-week low of $100.43 and a 52-week high of $223.88. The stock has a market cap of $175.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $189.67 and its 200-day moving average is $184.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 49.04% and a net margin of 35.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 64.33%.

Southern Copper Profile

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) is an integrated copper producer engaged in the exploration, mining, processing, smelting and refining of minerals. The company produces copper in the form of cathodes, concentrates and anodes, along with byproducts including molybdenum, zinc, silver, lead and sulfuric acid.

Southern Copper operates mining and processing facilities in Mexico and Peru. Its principal Mexican operations include the Buenavista del Cobre and La Caridad mining complexes, while its Peruvian operations include the Toquepala and Cuajone mines and the Ilo smelter and refinery.