Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.31.

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

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $92.45 on Friday. Southern Copper has a 1-year low of $84.33 and a 1-year high of $129.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 230,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,661,000 after acquiring an additional 15,386 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Southern Copper by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 108,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,391 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 384.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 90,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,430,000 after purchasing an additional 71,558 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Southern Copper by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 137,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,487,000 after purchasing an additional 24,933 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.