Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO – Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.30.

SCCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern Copper from $58.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. StockNews.com lowered Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Southern Copper from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 23rd.

In other Southern Copper news, Chairman German Larrea Mota Velasco sold 200,000 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.94, for a total value of $14,988,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new position in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Herold Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors own 6.83% of the company’s stock.

NYSE SCCO opened at $57.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.12. Southern Copper has a one year low of $54.92 and a one year high of $82.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.30.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 17th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 16th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.77%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.29%.

Southern Copper Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 and lead.

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