HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 3,770 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,770 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $5,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 6,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,325,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $187.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.38, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $153.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.15 and a 200 day moving average of $170.74. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12 month low of $88.73 and a 12 month high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%.The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.12%.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,320.74. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 500 shares of company stock valued at $88,412 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 price target on Southern Copper and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern Copper from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern Copper from $117.50 to $127.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $145.14.

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.