Novem Group Lowers Stake in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Novem Group lessened its position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 3.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 371 shares during the quarter. Novem Group’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $40,338,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $34,086,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Southern Copper by 26.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,551,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $145,039,000 after acquiring an additional 322,935 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $25,739,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $15,382,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $89.00 target price on Southern Copper and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern Copper from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised Southern Copper from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $93.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $41,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,700. This represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,102 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of SCCO opened at $117.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.99. Southern Copper Corporation has a one year low of $74.84 and a one year high of $121.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a current ratio of 5.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.79.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.01 dividend. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.02%.

Southern Copper Company Profile

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.