Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New $25.08 Million Investment in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 143,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,081,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $138.34 target price (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $146.84.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the 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 directly owned 1,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Southern Copper stock opened at $211.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.94 and a 12-month high of $223.88.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. 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. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 64.33%.

Southern Copper 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.