Legal & General Group Plc Invests $149.74 Million in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 859,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,739,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.10% of Southern Copper at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Southern Copper by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,194,000 after purchasing an additional 13,293 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 17.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 21.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 37.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,424,000 after buying an additional 19,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 17.7% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,066.65. This trade represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research lowered Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern Copper from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $138.34 price target (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $158.10 price objective (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $146.84.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:SCCO opened at $216.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12 month low of $92.94 and a 12 month high of $223.88. The company has a market cap of $180.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.72.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 35.87% and a return on equity of 49.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.33%.

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.