Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.31.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upgraded Southern Copper from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Southern Copper by 30.8% during 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 33.7% during 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 last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 4.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 38.9% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,163 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at about $2,289,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO traded up $1.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,272,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,630. Southern Copper has a 12 month low of $84.33 and a 12 month high of $127.34. The firm has a market cap of $77.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.79 and a 200-day moving average of $100.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.77.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. Research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a boost from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

About Southern Copper

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.