Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Boosts Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 21.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,849 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 2.5% during the second quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 12,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 4,089.7% during the second quarter. BOKF NA now owns 1,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 7.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 44.6% during the second quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 36,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,904,000 after purchasing an additional 11,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seaview Investment Managers LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 56.0% during the second quarter. Seaview Investment Managers LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SCCO opened at $98.69 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $103.30 and its 200 day moving average is $107.26. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.93 and a fifty-two week high of $129.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a net margin of 26.15% and a return on equity of 34.98%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SCCO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $81.70 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, July 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. 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 report 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.57.

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.