Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires Shares of 32,634 Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 32,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,682,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $781,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708,693 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,645,000. Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 65.4% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 467,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,258,000 after purchasing an additional 184,641 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 505,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,321,000 after purchasing an additional 178,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 187.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 219,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,582,000 after purchasing an additional 142,780 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $35,564.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,320.74. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 604 shares of company stock worth $109,136. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Down 10.7%

NYSE SCCO opened at $173.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 4.38 and a quick ratio of 3.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.32. The company has a market capitalization of $142.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12 month low of $88.73 and a 12 month high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 34.13% and a return on equity of 45.63%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 target price on shares of Southern Copper and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $145.14.

About Southern Copper

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.