Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Shares Acquired by PDT Partners LLC

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper Corporation ($SCCO) by 131.3% in Q1, now holding 92,090 shares valued at approximately $8.6 million.
• Southern Copper recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.01 per share, up from $0.62, reflecting an annual yield of 4.2%.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on Southern Copper, with a consensus price target of $91.00 and notable downgrades from firms like UBS and JPMorgan Chase.

PDT Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 131.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,090 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 52,281 shares during the quarter. Southern Copper accounts for approximately 0.6% of PDT Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. PDT Partners LLC's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $8,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 117.6% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP increased its position in Southern Copper by 583.5% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SCCO. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Southern Copper from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group lowered Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern Copper from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $93.60.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $100.87. 943,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,405,280. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $98.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.07. The stock has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $74.84 and a fifty-two 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.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $232,700. The trade was a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,028 shares of company stock worth $102,014 over the last ninety days. Company 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.