Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Reduces Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. significantly reduced its position in Southern Copper Corporation by 99.9%, retaining just 659 shares worth $62,000 after selling over 532,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Southern Copper has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.01 per share, a notable increase from its previous dividend of $0.62, reflecting a 4.2% yield for shareholders.
• In recent analyst ratings, Itau BBA Securities upgraded Southern Copper's status while others, including UBS Group and Morgan Stanley, provided mixed reviews, with an average price target of $91.00 for the stock.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lowered its position in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 99.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 659 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 532,981 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $62,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,637,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth approximately $337,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 906 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Novem Group now owns 10,758 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE SCCO traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $96.06. 1,044,220 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 996,485. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.01. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $121.44. The company has a market cap of $77.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $83.50 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

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 value of $41,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,700. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

About Southern Copper

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.