Blue Trust Inc. Buys 3,244 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 149.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 30.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total value of $33,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras sold 9,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.56, for a total transaction of $1,954,344.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,783.04. This trade represents a 93.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,526 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,373. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $116.51 target price (down from $118.49) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $154.69 price target on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.20.

Southern Copper Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE SCCO opened at $177.99 on Friday. Southern Copper Corporation has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $223.88. The stock has a market cap of $145.79 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.40 and a current ratio of 3.89.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 41.97% and a net margin of 32.30%.The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Southern Copper Company Profile

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.