Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 13,048 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 46.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,048 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Southern Copper were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 1.1% in the second quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 1.7% in the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in Southern Copper by 3.7% in the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 5.1% in the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Southern Copper by 1.0% in the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 12,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $41,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,327 shares in the company, valued at $232,700. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,528 shares of company stock worth $164,162. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Down 5.6%

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $130.50 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $119.10 and its 200-day moving average is $103.80. The stock has a market cap of $104.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.02. Southern Copper Corporation has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $144.81. The company has a quick ratio of 4.51, a current ratio of 5.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 30.98% and a return on equity of 39.62%. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 75.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SCCO. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $155.00 price objective on Southern Copper and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $89.10) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern Copper from $92.00 to $114.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $117.94.

About Southern Copper

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.