James Investment Research Inc. Takes Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

James Investment Research Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 10.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,719,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 168,005 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 979,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $99,134,000 after buying an additional 75,653 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 941,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,273,000 after buying an additional 38,856 shares in the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 14.1% in the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 834,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,411,000 after purchasing an additional 103,014 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 22.6% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 697,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,580,000 after buying an additional 128,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $182.00 target price on Southern Copper and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research cut Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $126.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $129.35.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $188.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 3.91. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $193.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.01.

Southern Copper’s stock is going to split on Tuesday, February 10th. The 1.0085-1 split was recently announced. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, February 9th.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a net margin of 30.98% and a return on equity of 38.74%. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total value of $55,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,835. This represents a 24.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 948 shares of company stock valued at $131,130. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.