Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC Acquires New Holdings in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SCCO. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the second quarter worth $870,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 33,638 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,266,000. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,147,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 10,360 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SCCO. Barclays set a $164.03 price target on shares of Southern Copper and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Southern Copper from $144.27 to $156.13 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $146.84.

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $219.70 on Wednesday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1-year low of $92.94 and a 1-year high of $223.88. The company has a market cap of $183.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 4.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.38.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.