Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New $11.82 Million Investment in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 67,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,816,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $164.03 price target on shares of Southern Copper and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $158.10 target price (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $146.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total transaction of $39,751.28. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 509 shares of company stock valued at $97,753 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Copper Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $216.30 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.16. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $92.94 and a 1 year high of $223.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.06, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 49.04% and a net margin of 35.87%.The firm’s revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.61 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 64.33%.

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.