Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Shares Bought by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 192.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 108,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,405 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $18,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SCCO. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,862,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $410,646,000 after acquiring an additional 66,268 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,536,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $363,873,000 after acquiring an additional 7,194 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,181,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,480,000 after acquiring an additional 90,237 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Southern Copper by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 983,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $141,149,000 after purchasing an additional 33,804 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Southern Copper by 1.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 955,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $116,012,000 after purchasing an additional 14,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.15, for a total transaction of $39,830.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,152.45. This represents a 10.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 804 shares of company stock worth $151,338 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SCCO. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Southern Copper and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. CICC Research lowered shares of Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $135.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $148.60.

Southern Copper Trading Down 1.8%

SCCO opened at $193.42 on Friday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52 week low of $92.57 and a 52 week high of $223.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.61. The firm has a market cap of $159.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 3.89, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Southern Copper’s stock is scheduled to split on Tuesday, August 11th. The 1.012-1 split was recently announced. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, August 10th.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 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 return on equity of 49.04% and a net margin of 35.87%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.48%.

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.