Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Cut to Neutral at UBS Group

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was downgraded by analysts at UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $105.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.92% from the company’s current price.

SCCO has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Southern Copper from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southern Copper from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Southern Copper Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE SCCO traded up $3.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,667,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,221,893. The company has a market capitalization of $84.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.96. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $74.11 and a twelve month high of $118.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 39.39% and a net margin of 30.00%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 117.6% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

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.