UBS Group Upgrades Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) to Buy

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $120.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 24.83% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.31.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $96.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. 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 50-day moving average price of $93.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.67. Southern Copper has a 12-month low of $84.33 and a 12-month high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Cadence Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.