Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.31.

SCCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Southern Copper Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $98.78 on Friday. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $84.33 and a 1 year high of $127.34. The company has a market cap of $78.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.59.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 30.8% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 38.9% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at about $2,289,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.