Westpac Banking Corp Invests $1.70 Million in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the second quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total transaction of $39,751.28. Following the sale, the director owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,066.65. The trade was a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $216.30 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.23 and a 200-day moving average of $183.20. The company has a market cap of $180.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.94 and a 1 year high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion for 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 49.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. 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 2.0%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SCCO. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $168.97 to $169.96 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $158.10 target price (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $146.84.

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.