Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 88,500 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 90.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 88,500 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $1,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 192,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,126,000 after buying an additional 33,638 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at $1,434,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $7,650,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Southern Copper by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 74,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,687,000 after acquiring an additional 10,360 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at $1,147,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,320.74. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 504 shares of company stock valued at $92,008 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SCCO shares. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Southern Copper and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. CICC Research lowered shares of Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern Copper from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $148.60.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE SCCO opened at $186.02 on Tuesday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12 month low of $91.92 and a 12 month high of $223.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.38, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $153.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Shares of Southern Copper are set to split on the morning of Tuesday, August 11th. The 1.012-1 split was recently announced. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, August 10th.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 50.74% and a net margin of 35.87%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company 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 is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.48%.

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.