Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 40,897 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $7,037,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 927.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 5,298 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 5.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,490 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 20.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 180,931 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,079,000 after acquiring an additional 31,156 shares during the last quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCCO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $127.00 to $131.50 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Southern Copper from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $178.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and eight have issued 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 $147.10.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $175.99. The stock had a trading volume of 791,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,224,357. The firm has a market cap of $145.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $181.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 4.38 and a quick ratio of 3.89. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $88.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Southern Copper's payout ratio is currently 66.12%.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $35,564.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $321,320.74. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 404 shares of company stock worth $74,108. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Profile

Southern Copper Corporation NYSE: SCCO is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper's operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.

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