Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock? – Augusta Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEAMEX:AZC), Sterlite Industries India Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SLT)

Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to watch stocks. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a look at the latest action surrounding Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO).

How are hedge funds trading Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -24% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

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Since Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) has experienced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few hedge funds that slashed their full holdings heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital dumped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth close to $13 million in stock., and Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds heading into 2013.

How are insiders trading Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO). These stocks are Lihua International Inc (NASDAQ:LIWA), Augusta Resource Corp. (USA) (NYSEAMEX:AZC), Sterlite Industries India Limited (ADR) (NYSE:SLT), and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX). This group of stocks are in the copper industry and their market caps match SCCO’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds