Legal & General Group Plc Sells 54,673 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 901,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 54,673 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $129,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $195.44 on Friday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $88.73 and a 1 year high of $223.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.16. The company has a market capitalization of $160.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 4.38 and a quick ratio of 3.89.

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

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SCCO. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 price objective on Southern Copper and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays began coverage on Southern Copper in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $145.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,320.74. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 500 shares of company stock valued at $88,412. 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.