Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.1439.

SCCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Southern Copper in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. Bank of America cut Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Southern Copper from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 price objective on Southern Copper and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “underperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, May 15th.

Southern Copper Trading Down 10.7%

Shares of SCCO opened at $173.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.09. Southern Copper has a one year low of $88.73 and a one year high of $223.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.32.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.12%.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $35,564.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,807 shares in the company, valued at $321,320.74. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 604 shares of company stock worth $109,136 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Southern Copper by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its stake in Southern Copper by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 6,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern Copper by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 6,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 6,998 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.