Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its holdings in Southern Copper Corporation by 10.9%, owning approximately $235.64 million worth of the company's stock after selling 311,734 shares.
• Southern Copper recently increased its dividend to $1.01 per share, with a record date of August 15th, representing a significant increase from its previous dividend of $0.62.
• Shares of Southern Copper opened at $97.60, showing a decline of 1.9%, with a market capitalization of $78.48 billion and a PE ratio of 21.36.

Aberdeen Group plc decreased its holdings in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,537,904 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 311,734 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.32% of Southern Copper worth $235,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,226,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $34,086,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Southern Copper by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,146,537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $104,484,000 after buying an additional 355,013 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 998,923 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $91,032,000 after buying an additional 331,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,551,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $145,039,000 after acquiring an additional 322,935 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 0.6%

Southern Copper stock traded down $0.5360 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.7140. 1,327,112 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,468,544. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 5.27 and a quick ratio of 4.51. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $121.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.92. The firm has a market cap of $75.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.00.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. This is a positive change from Southern Copper's previous -- dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 270.0%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is currently 70.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $41,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $232,700. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Southern Copper from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Itau BBA Securities raised Southern Copper from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $83.50 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $91.00.

Southern Copper 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.