Insider Selling: Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Director Sells $55,600.00 in Stock

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 400 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total transaction of $55,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,835. The trade was a 24.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 10th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 148 shares of Southern Copper stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $20,720.00.
• On Thursday, November 6th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 100 shares of Southern Copper stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.50, for a total transaction of $13,750.00.
• On Tuesday, November 4th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 100 shares of Southern Copper stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.90, for a total transaction of $13,190.00.
• On Friday, October 31st, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of Southern Copper stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.35, for a total transaction of $27,870.00.
• On Friday, September 12th, Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of Southern Copper stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.44, for a total value of $21,088.00.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

SCCO stock traded up $3.75 on Wednesday, hitting $138.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,169,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,466,184. The stock has a market cap of $112.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.07. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $144.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $130.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.52, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 38.74% and a net margin of 30.98%.The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Equities analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $89.10) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $118.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.94.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at $25,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at $30,000. United Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southern Copper

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.