Denali Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)

Denali Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 9.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $209,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.8% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 38,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,063,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 3.2% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 12.8% in the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 33,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,556,000 after buying an additional 3,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter worth about $172,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Up 5.6 %

SCCO stock opened at $116.07 on Thursday. Southern Copper Co. has a one year low of $67.64 and a one year high of $129.79. The firm has a market cap of $90.67 billion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $114.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.17. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.44% and a net margin of 24.20%. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.03%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 1.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $35,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,759. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director PALOMINO BONILLA LUIS MIGUEL sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.30, for a total value of $425,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,916.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $472,430 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern Copper from $81.70 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.50.

Southern Copper Company Profile

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.