Insider Selling: Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Director Sells 200 Shares of Stock

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $35,564.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,320.74. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 100 shares of Southern Copper stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.20, for a total value of $17,820.00.
• On Friday, March 13th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of Southern Copper stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total value of $33,697.80.
• On Thursday, March 12th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 7 shares of Southern Copper stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $1,330.00.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO traded up $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $179.79. 381,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,879,000. 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 company has a market capitalization of $147.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $177.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.33.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%.The business had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Corporation will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 36.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $781,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708,693 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $97,645,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $81,039,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth about $85,342,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,560,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SCCO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Bank of America downgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 price target on Southern Copper and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $145.14.

Southern Copper Company 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.