Vestcor Inc Invests $639,000 in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 48,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,990,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $2,238,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Randolph Co Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Randolph Co Inc now owns 202,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 89,466.7% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 5,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 5,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $170.51 on Tuesday. Southern Copper Corporation has a twelve month low of $88.73 and a twelve month high of $223.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 4.38, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $182.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.99.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%.The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,320.74. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 604 shares of company stock valued at $109,136 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern Copper from $117.50 to $127.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $145.14.

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.