Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target Raised to $55.00 at Scotiabank

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its price target increased by Scotiabank from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector underperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Southern Copper from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern Copper from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $73.71.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $115.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.94. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $64.66 and a fifty-two week high of $120.37. The firm has a market cap of $89.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.29.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 283,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,523,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 3,901 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at about $388,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 121.4% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,138,000 after acquiring an additional 94,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 10.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,022,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $532,978,000 after acquiring an additional 680,165 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.