Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on SCCO. Zacks Research lowered Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $138.00 price target on Southern Copper and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $89.10) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $155.00 price objective on Southern Copper and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $123.85.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO opened at $145.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $118.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $137.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.63. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $74.84 and a 1 year high of $152.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 3.91.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 38.74% and a net margin of 30.98%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is 75.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 400 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total value of $55,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,835. The trade was a 24.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 948 shares of company stock valued at $131,130. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors increased its position in Southern Copper by 36.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $781,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708,693 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,795,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,320,000 after purchasing an additional 40,847 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,719,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 168,005 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Southern Copper by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,398,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,718,000 after purchasing an additional 44,014 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Southern Copper by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 979,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $99,134,000 after purchasing an additional 75,653 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper’s operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.