Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 58,349 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. significantly increased its stake in Southern Copper Corporation by 2,492.5% during the first quarter, owning 60,690 shares valued at $5.67 million.
• Inside trading shows that Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares for $41,400, representing a 15.10% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Southern Copper Corporation has declared a dividend of $1.01 with a yield of 270.0%, up from its previous dividend of $0.62, highlighting positive changes in financial performance.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 2,492.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,690 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,349 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $5,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 322,935 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 130,710 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $116,672,000 after buying an additional 78,769 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $104,484,000 after purchasing an additional 355,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southern Copper by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,028,848 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $93,759,000 after purchasing an additional 217,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $83.50 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. 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 reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned 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.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE SCCO traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.06. 1,044,220 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,018,199. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.04. The firm has a market cap of $77.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1-year low of $74.84 and a 1-year high of $121.44.

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 given a dividend of $1.01 per share. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is currently 70.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the company'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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Copper Company 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.