California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 134,625 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $20,545,080 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at $1,729,500,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,536,228 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $363,873,000 after buying an additional 7,194 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter valued at about $318,448,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 2.2% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,290,648 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $224,908,000 after acquiring an additional 27,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Southern Copper during the second quarter worth about $149,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

SCCO traded up $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 401,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,597,342. The company has a market capitalization of $157.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.10 and a 52-week high of $223.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $190.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.04.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.06. Southern Copper had a net margin of 35.87% and a return on equity of 49.04%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper's quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Luis Palomino Bonilla sold 202 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total transaction of $39,751.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $339,066.65. This trade represents a 10.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 604 shares of company stock valued at $118,077 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SCCO shares. CICC Research lowered shares of Southern Copper to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Scotiabank restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $138.34 target price (up from $133.40) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $146.84.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation NYSE: SCCO is an integrated copper producer engaged in the exploration, mining, processing, smelting and refining of minerals. The company produces copper in the form of cathodes, concentrates and anodes, along with byproducts including molybdenum, zinc, silver, lead and sulfuric acid.

Southern Copper operates mining and processing facilities in Mexico and Peru. Its principal Mexican operations include the Buenavista del Cobre and La Caridad mining complexes, while its Peruvian operations include the Toquepala and Cuajone mines and the Ilo smelter and refinery.

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