Spire Wealth Management Acquires 45,375 Shares of Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO

Key Points

• Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 7,891.3%, adding 45,375 shares to reach 45,950 shares worth about $6.59 million per its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts are broadly cautious: the consensus rating is Reduce with a $139.20 target (two Buy, three Hold, eight Sell), below the recent share price of roughly $161.91.
• Southern Copper slightly beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.55 vs. $1.54; revenue $3.87B vs. $3.73B), raised its quarterly dividend to $1.00 (annualized $4.00, ~2.5% yield), while insiders sold about 9,526 shares (~$1.99M) last quarter.

Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 7,891.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,950 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,375 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Southern Copper were worth $6,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter worth $25,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 65.1% in the third quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. United Community Bank acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 30.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 360 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SCCO. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.38 target price on Southern Copper and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $127.91 target price on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $139.20.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $161.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $132.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.89 and a quick ratio of 3.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.80. Southern Copper Corporation has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $223.88.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 41.97% and a net margin of 32.30%.The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total transaction of $33,697.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,707 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras sold 9,326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.56, for a total transaction of $1,954,344.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 605 shares in the company, valued at $126,783.04. This represents a 93.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,526 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,373 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Profile

Southern Copper Corporation NYSE: SCCO is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper's operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.

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