160,699 Shares in Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP acquired 160,699 shares of Southern Copper Corporation, valued at approximately $15 million, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Southern Copper recently increased its dividend to $1.01 per share, up from $0.62, resulting in a dividend yield of 270.0%.
• Several analysts downgraded Southern Copper's stock rating, with the current consensus rating being "Reduce" and an average price target of $91.00.

Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 160,699 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $15,019,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth $40,226,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper in the first quarter worth $34,086,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 worth $104,484,000 after purchasing an additional 355,013 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 26.3% in the first 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 during the period. 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director directly owned 2,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $232,700. This trade represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $96.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,044,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,018,199. 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 market capitalization of $77.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 5.27 and a quick ratio of 4.51. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $98.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.04.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date 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.