Old North State Trust LLC Takes $2.79 Million Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Old North State Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,795,000. Southern Copper makes up approximately 1.4% of Old North State Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at $870,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 192,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,126,000 after purchasing an additional 33,638 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,266,000. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $1,147,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 74,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,687,000 after buying an additional 10,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SCCO. Zacks Research lowered Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern Copper from $168.97 to $169.96 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Scotiabank restated an “underperform” rating and set a $138.34 price objective (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $146.84.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.4%

SCCO opened at $216.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 4.56. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $92.94 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $184.25 and its 200 day moving average is $183.72.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total value of $39,751.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,066.65. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.