Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 2,337 Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter worth $44,484,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at about $181,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $1,715,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $443,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $149,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SCCO shares. CICC Research lowered shares of Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $138.34 target price (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $146.84.

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.5%

SCCO opened at $219.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $183.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.38. Southern Copper Corporation has a one year low of $92.94 and a one year high of $223.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total value of $39,751.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.