Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.94.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southern Copper from $67.00 to $74.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern Copper from $52.50 to $55.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Southern Copper in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.11, for a total transaction of $43,555.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,613.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.11, for a total transaction of $43,555.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $471,613.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanchez Mejorada Enri Castillo sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $195,744.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,992. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 28.7% in the first quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. 7.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $78.72 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.28. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $42.42 and a fifty-two week high of $87.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 4.50 and a quick ratio of 3.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $79.31 and its 200-day moving average is $75.47.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 34.86%. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 8th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.11%.

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.