Morgan Stanley Upgrades Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) to Equal Weight

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $102.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $106.30. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.00% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.81.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO opened at $100.00 on Thursday. Southern Copper has a 12-month low of $77.14 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The company has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 108,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,772,000 after purchasing an additional 23,539 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 30.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 71,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,256,000 after buying an additional 16,805 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 488.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 30,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,561,000 after buying an additional 25,559 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 613,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,437,000 after acquiring an additional 20,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.