William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 340,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,369,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 6,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 6,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Copper Stock Up 8.8%

Southern Copper stock opened at $216.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 4.56. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1-year low of $92.94 and a 1-year high of $223.88. The stock has a market cap of $180.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $182.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.20.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 49.04% and a net margin of 35.87%.Southern Copper’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern Copper from $168.97 to $169.96 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $146.84.

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.