KCM Investment Advisors LLC Buys 4,694 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,694 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $11,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 acquiring an additional 13,293 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 17.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 21.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 37.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,424,000 after acquiring an additional 19,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 17.7% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern Copper from $117.50 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America downgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Southern Copper in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $145.14.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $189.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.21. The company has a market cap of $155.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 66.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $35,564.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,320.74. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 404 shares of company stock worth $74,108 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.