Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its price objective boosted by Scotiabank from $52.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector underperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.31.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Southern Copper stock opened at $88.27 on Monday. Southern Copper has a 52 week low of $84.33 and a 52 week high of $129.79. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 64.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co now owns 357,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,542,000 after purchasing an additional 19,592 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $40,226,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 170,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,454,000 after acquiring an additional 57,834 shares in the last quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Centerstone Investors LLC now owns 23,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 160.1% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 3,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

About Southern Copper

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.