Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Holdings Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 983,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,804 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $141,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SCCO. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,976,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Southern Copper by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 148,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,778,000 after buying an additional 7,995 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 2,631.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,631,000 after buying an additional 12,949 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 35,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,326,000 after buying an additional 12,532 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 159.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $185.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.69. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88. The firm has a market cap of $151.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 4.38 and a quick ratio of 3.89.

Southern Copper shares are scheduled to split on Wednesday, May 13th. The 1.01-1 split was recently announced. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, May 12th.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.04. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%.The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total value of $33,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SCCO. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southern Copper from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Southern Copper and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $144.25.

About Southern Copper

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.