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

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $94.81.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after buying an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 0.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 375,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 3.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Southern Copper by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 46.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 98,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 31,044 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Trading Up 0.9 %

Southern Copper stock opened at $91.31 on Thursday. Southern Copper has a one year low of $77.42 and a one year high of $129.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $96.95 and its 200 day moving average is $103.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.09%.

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.