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

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four 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 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.81.

SCCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Southern Copper by 172.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Southern Copper by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of SCCO stock opened at $91.31 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $71.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. Southern Copper has a 12-month low of $77.42 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.13.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 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.