Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $95.64, but opened at $92.35. Southern Copper shares last traded at $92.43, with a volume of 57,776 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SCCO. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.81.

Southern Copper Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $76.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.10.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 37.11%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,232,245 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $385,684,000 after buying an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,700,844 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $337,260,000 after buying an additional 15,037 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,963,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $342,796,000 after buying an additional 283,562 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,849,638 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $260,428,000 after buying an additional 118,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,728,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $315,641,000 after buying an additional 27,358 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.