Korea Investment CORP Makes New $6.55 Million Investment in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,550,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the second quarter worth $218,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter valued at $697,000. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth about $870,000. Finally, Cauble & Harre Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth about $490,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $138.34 price target (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $158.10 price objective (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, CICC Research cut shares of Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $146.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total value of $39,751.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,066.65. The trade was a 10.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $214.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $182.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $92.94 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results 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 business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 64.33%.

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.