Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 6,474 Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 6,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 6,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SCCO shares. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $158.10 price target (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. CICC Research lowered shares of Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $168.97 to $169.96 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $146.84.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO opened at $216.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.23 and a 200-day moving average of $183.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12-month low of $92.94 and a 12-month 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.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper 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.