Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target Raised to $72.00

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its target price raised by Scotiabank from $52.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector underperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.31.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $90.30 on Monday. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $84.33 and a 1 year high of $129.79. The firm has a market cap of $70.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.71 and a 200 day moving average of $100.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is 64.81%.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co now owns 357,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,542,000 after buying an additional 19,592 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,226,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 170,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,454,000 after acquiring an additional 57,834 shares in the last quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC now owns 23,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in Southern Copper by 160.1% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.