Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Lowers Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs has reduced its stake in Southern Copper Corporation by 11.5%, now holding approximately 1,075,246 shares valued at around $100 million.
• Southern Copper recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.62 to $1.01 per share, reflecting a strong annualized yield of 3.8%.
• Several analysts have downgraded Southern Copper's stock ratings, with UBS Group changing its rating from "buy" to "neutral", setting a price target of $105.00.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,075,246 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 139,662 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Southern Copper worth $100,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.7% in the first quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 15,077 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Balefire LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 3.0% in the first quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 4,779 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 6.4% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,377 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC now owns 23,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 20,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $106.22 on Friday. Southern Copper Corporation has a 12-month low of $74.84 and a 12-month high of $121.44. The company has a current ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $98.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.99.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is presently 70.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $41,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $232,700. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,228 shares of company stock worth $123,102 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCCO. UBS Group downgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut 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 report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price 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.

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