Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Upgraded by Hsbc Global Res to "Hold" Rating

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.50.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

SCCO traded down $0.93 on Thursday, reaching $92.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,178,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,798. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $127.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.94.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.14. Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Southern Copper by 74.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,402,983 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $162,283,000 after purchasing an additional 599,610 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $52,738,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at $40,226,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 1,417.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 407,912 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,173,000 after purchasing an additional 381,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Southern Copper by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,146,537 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $104,484,000 after purchasing an additional 355,013 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.