Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.63.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCCO. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter worth approximately $340,373,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,771,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $827,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,111 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 1,300.4% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 443,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,760,000 after purchasing an additional 411,630 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 115,910.7% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 336,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,915,000 after buying an additional 336,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 10.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,963,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,796,000 after buying an additional 283,562 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $99.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.18. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $109.62 and a 200-day moving average of $109.71. Southern Copper has a 52-week low of $70.63 and a 52-week high of $129.79.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 72.09%.

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.