InterOcean Capital Group LLC Purchases Shares of 2,441 Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

InterOcean Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 968,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,892,000 after purchasing an additional 12,201 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $278,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 53,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,638,000 after acquiring an additional 23,362 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 41,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 22,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $35,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director PALOMINO BONILLA LUIS MIGUEL sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.30, for a total transaction of $425,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $261,916.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $472,430. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $81.70 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.57.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $104.34 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $112.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.19. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $68.93 and a one year high of $129.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.31 and a quick ratio of 2.56.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.17. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.20% and a return on equity of 30.44%. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1.33%.

Southern Copper Profile

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.