Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stake in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 106,777 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $9,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,719,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 168,005 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 3.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,398,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,718,000 after buying an additional 44,014 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 2.9% during the first quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,059,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $98,982,000 after buying an additional 30,232 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 8.4% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew 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. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.35, for a total transaction of $27,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,706.55. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 962 shares of company stock worth $118,232 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $121.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.94.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Southern Copper stock opened at $134.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 5.27 and a quick ratio of 4.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.08. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1-year low of $74.84 and a 1-year high of $144.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.47 and its 200 day moving average is $108.81.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 39.62% and a net margin of 30.98%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.47%.

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.