Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stock Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 30,904 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $12,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its position in Southern Copper by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 6,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Centerstone Investors LLC boosted its position in Southern Copper by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern Copper by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern Copper by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,325,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern Copper by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $179.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 4.38 and a quick ratio of 3.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.33. The stock has a market cap of $146.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1-year low of $88.73 and a 1-year high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 34.13% and a return on equity of 45.63%. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Thursday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America cut shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $145.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total value of $33,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 10.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 300 shares of company stock valued at $52,848. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.