Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 7.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 186,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $32,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at about $1,729,500,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $696,621,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Southern Copper by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,862,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $410,646,000 after acquiring an additional 66,268 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $363,873,000 after purchasing an additional 7,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth approximately $318,448,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $168.97 to $169.96 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. CICC Research lowered Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $146.84.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

SCCO opened at $211.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.67 and a 200 day moving average of $183.78. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $92.94 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $1.10 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.33%.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

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

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.