Southern Copper Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SCCO)

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 5,112 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 277% compared to the typical volume of 1,357 put options.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.35, for a total value of $27,870.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $238,706.55. This trade represents a 10.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 962 shares of company stock worth $118,232. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $781,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708,693 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the second quarter worth about $57,901,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $40,338,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,086,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,551,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $145,039,000 after acquiring an additional 322,935 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:SCCO opened at $134.35 on Friday. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $144.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.81. The stock has a market cap of $109.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 39.62% and a net margin of 30.98%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is 75.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SCCO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $92.00 to $114.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $132.00 price target on Southern Copper and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.94.

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.