Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Shares Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 305.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,433 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $27,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,434,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,650,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 74,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,687,000 after buying an additional 10,360 shares during the period. Affinity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,379,000. Finally, Ashoka WhiteOak Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,460,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 404 shares of company stock worth $74,108 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern Copper from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern Copper from $127.00 to $131.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Scotiabank reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $148.60.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $179.69 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 firm has a market cap of $148.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $180.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.39. Southern Copper Corporation has a one year low of $88.73 and a one year high of $223.88.

Shares of Southern Copper are going to split before the market opens on Tuesday, August 11th. The 1.012-1 split was recently announced. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, August 10th.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 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 net margin of 35.87% and a return on equity of 50.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.33%.

Southern Copper 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.