Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $139.9908.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SCCO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America cut shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total transaction of $33,697.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,042.20. The trade was a 10.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras sold 9,326 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.56, for a total transaction of $1,954,344.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,783.04. This represents a 93.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,526 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,373. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $781,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708,693 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,645,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,039,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,560,000. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,771,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $159.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.89 and a quick ratio of 3.40. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $223.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.47.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 41.97% and a net margin of 32.30%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Southern Copper Company Profile

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper’s operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.