Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Issues Earnings Results

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 37.11% and a net margin of 27.67%.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $97.41. 1,946,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,148,754. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $95.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.06. The firm has a market cap of $76.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. 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 has a 12 month low of $78.82 and a 12 month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper's payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.81.

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.