Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Purchased by Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 94.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,618 shares during the quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $5,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 283,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,611 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 48.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 3,901 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $388,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 121.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,138,000 after acquiring an additional 94,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 10.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,022,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $532,978,000 after acquiring an additional 680,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sanchez Mejorada Enri Castillo sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $195,744.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,992. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.11, for a total transaction of $43,555.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,613.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanchez Mejorada Enri Castillo sold 2,400 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $195,744.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,992. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern Copper from $52.50 to $55.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Southern Copper in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $67.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $79.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.57, a current ratio of 4.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Southern Copper Co. has a 12 month low of $42.42 and a 12 month high of $87.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.69. The firm has a market cap of $61.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 1.28.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 34.86% and a net margin of 27.62%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 8th. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 111.11%.

Southern Copper Profile

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.