Amundi Sells 15,623 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its holdings in Southern Copper Corporation by 9.0% during the first quarter, owning a total of 158,590 shares worth $13,755,000 after selling 15,623 shares.
• Several institutional investors made changes to their positions in Southern Copper, with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquiring a new position worth $2.6 million and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its stake by 35.2%.
• Southern Copper announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.01 per share, marking a rise from the previous $0.62, and representing an annualized yield of 4.0%.

Amundi reduced its stake in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,623 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $13,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth $40,226,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth $34,086,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 worth $145,039,000 after purchasing an additional 322,935 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth $25,739,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at about $15,019,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern Copper from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (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, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $93.60.

Southern Copper Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of SCCO traded up $3.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $109.74. 2,089,580 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,055,761. Southern Copper Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.84 and a 52 week high of $121.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a current ratio of 5.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.62.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a positive change from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is 70.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $41,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,327 shares in the company, valued at $232,700. This trade represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,228 shares of company stock worth $123,102 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.