Axiom Investors LLC DE Increases Holdings in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in Southern Copper Corporation by 7.6%, owning 172,633 shares valued at approximately $16.13 million after purchasing an additional 12,237 shares in the first quarter.
• Southern Copper recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.01 per share, up from $0.62, which represents a 3.9% dividend yield.
• Analyst ratings for Southern Copper are mixed, with Morgan Stanley reiterating an "underweight" rating and setting a new price target of $99.00, while UBS downgraded its rating from "buy" to "neutral" with a target of $105.00.

Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 172,633 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,237 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $16,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,226,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at $40,338,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at $34,086,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Southern Copper by 26.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 322,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth $25,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO stock traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $102.01. 1,094,199 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,006,539. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $98.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.26. The company has a market cap of $82.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $121.44.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is 70.02%.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $41,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $232,700. This represents a 15.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,028 shares of company stock worth $102,014. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities 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 report on Wednesday, June 11th. UBS Group downgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southern Copper from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $93.60.

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.