Virtus Advisers LLC Makes New $873,000 Investment in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCCO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,729,500,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the second quarter worth approximately $696,621,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,645,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $81,039,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth $85,342,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Scotiabank reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $138.34 price objective (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays set a $164.03 target price on shares of Southern Copper and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $146.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total value of $39,751.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $199.45 on Friday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52 week low of $92.57 and a 52 week high of $223.88. The company has a quick ratio of 4.56, a current ratio of 5.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $166.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.97.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 49.04% and a net margin of 35.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 64.33%.

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.