Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras Sells 9,248 Shares of Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Stock

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Director Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras sold 9,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.34, for a total value of $1,954,472.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,804. This represents a 93.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Southern Copper Stock Down 9.0%

Shares of SCCO opened at $196.00 on Thursday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $218.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 3.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.77. The firm has a market cap of $159.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.07.

Shares of Southern Copper are set to split on Tuesday, February 10th. The 1.0085-1 split was recently announced. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, February 9th.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on SCCO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Monday, December 29th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $118.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective (up previously from $148.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $137.65.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $781,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708,693 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,795,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $339,320,000 after purchasing an additional 40,847 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 10.8% during the second 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Southern Copper by 12.8% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,091,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $132,479,000 after purchasing an additional 123,532 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 983,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $141,149,000 after purchasing an additional 33,804 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.