Axiom Investors LLC DE Grows Stock Holdings in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE has increased its ownership stake in Southern Copper Corporation by 7.6%, now holding 172,633 shares valued at approximately $16.1 million.
• Southern Copper recently declared a dividend of $1.01 per share, up from previous dividends, representing a substantial yield of 270.0%.
• Equities analysts have downgraded Southern Copper's stock rating from "buy" to "hold", with a consensus target price of $91.00.

Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,633 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares during the quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $16,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at $40,226,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,086,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 355,013 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 26.3% during 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 buying an additional 322,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth $25,739,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Itau BBA Securities raised Southern Copper from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $83.50 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $91.00.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other 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 transaction, the director owned 2,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $232,700. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Copper Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SCCO stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $96.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 966,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,260. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $98.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.01. The company has a market capitalization of $77.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.00. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1-year low of $74.84 and a 1-year high of $121.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 5.27 and a quick ratio of 4.51.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

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

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.