American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in Southern Copper Corporation by 10.6%, now owning a total of 62,271 shares valued at approximately $5.82 million.
• Southern Copper has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.01 per share, a significant increase from the previous dividend of $0.62, reflecting strong financial performance.
• Institutional investors collectively own 7.94% of Southern Copper's stock, with several firms recently enhancing their holdings in the company.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,271 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,992 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $5,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Southern Copper by 26.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,551,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $145,039,000 after purchasing an additional 322,935 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,354,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $123,448,000 after acquiring an additional 130,710 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,280,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $116,672,000 after purchasing an additional 78,769 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,146,537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $104,484,000 after purchasing an additional 355,013 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,028,848 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,759,000 after acquiring an additional 217,546 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $232,700. This represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SCCO traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $97.05. 357,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,403,496. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $74.84 and a fifty-two week high of $121.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 5.27 and a quick ratio of 4.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.18 and a 200-day moving average of $94.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.01 dividend. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SCCO shares. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Southern Copper from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $83.50 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.