National Pension Service Trims Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,099 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $3,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter worth about $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $117.50 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $145.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,320.74. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 500 shares of company stock valued at $88,412. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $194.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $159.43 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.07. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12 month low of $88.73 and a 12 month high of $223.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $179.72 and a 200 day moving average of $171.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.38, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.12%.

About Southern Copper

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.