Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on SCCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Southern Copper from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southern Copper from $127.00 to $131.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on shares of Southern Copper and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $148.60.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $186.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.28. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $91.92 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88. The company has a market capitalization of $153.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.38.

Southern Copper shares are set to split before the market opens on Tuesday, August 11th. The 1.012-1 split was recently announced. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, August 10th.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 50.74% and a net margin of 35.87%.The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. The business’s revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 1,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,320.74. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 504 shares of company stock worth $92,008 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,822,000. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth approximately $622,000. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 17.4% in the second quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 7,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 3.7% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shrier Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 5.8% during the second quarter. Shrier Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 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.