William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $59.37 Million in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 340,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,369,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the second quarter worth about $1,729,500,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $696,621,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,645,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,039,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,342,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CICC Research cut Southern Copper to a “market perform” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $158.10 price target (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays set a $164.03 price objective on Southern Copper and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $146.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 509 shares of company stock worth $97,753 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Up 8.8%

Shares of SCCO opened at $216.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06. The company has a market capitalization of $180.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.11. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $92.94 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.37 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

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