Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Declares $0.01 Quarterly Dividend

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 19th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.01 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th.

Southern Copper has increased its dividend by an average of 38.7% per year over the last three years. Southern Copper has a dividend payout ratio of 68.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Southern Copper to earn $4.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.1%.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock opened at $115.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Southern Copper has a one year low of $64.66 and a one year high of $121.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.22 billion, a PE ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.04.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.20% and a return on equity of 30.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $35,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,614 shares in the company, valued at $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 600 shares of company stock worth $63,430. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on SCCO shares. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.50.

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.