Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New Investment in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 143,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,081,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Odyssean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at $290,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $3,663,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth about $402,000. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth about $407,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,484,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total transaction of $39,751.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE SCCO opened at $211.58 on Friday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52 week low of $92.94 and a 52 week high of $223.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.92. The company has a quick ratio of 4.56, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $176.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 35.87% and a return on equity of 49.04%. Southern Copper’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. Scotiabank restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $138.34 price target (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $158.10 price objective (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays set a $164.03 price objective on shares of Southern Copper and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $146.84.

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.