World Investment Advisors Takes Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $781,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708,693 shares during the period. Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 65.4% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 467,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,258,000 after acquiring an additional 184,641 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 505,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,321,000 after acquiring an additional 178,350 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 187.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 219,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,582,000 after acquiring an additional 142,780 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 286,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,963,000 after acquiring an additional 128,512 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Scotiabank restated an “underperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southern Copper from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $117.50 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $144.43.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total transaction of $33,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,707 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. The trade was a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 300 shares of company stock worth $52,848 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $174.56 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.04. The firm has a market cap of $142.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.38. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52-week low of $88.73 and a 52-week high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 66.12%.

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.