Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.63.

Several brokerages have weighed in on SCCO. UBS Group started coverage on Southern Copper in a report on Friday, July 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE SCCO traded down $6.40 on Friday, reaching $107.11. 1,084,629 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,150,180. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $109.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.98. The company has a market cap of $84.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Southern Copper has a 12 month low of $68.93 and a 12 month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.09%.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 395.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,133,000 after buying an additional 30,966 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,237 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,612,000 after buying an additional 16,111 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 182.3% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 278,119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,625,000 after purchasing an additional 179,590 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Southern Copper by 157.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 13,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Southern Copper by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,771,332 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $827,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

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.