Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target Raised to $135.00 at Morgan Stanley

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $135.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. HSBC lowered Southern Copper from a hold rating to a reduce rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. CICC Research initiated coverage on Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued an outperform rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a sector underperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $90.50.

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE SCCO opened at $115.39 on Tuesday. Southern Copper has a 12 month low of $64.66 and a 12 month high of $121.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $89.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.96, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 3.31, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.44% and a net margin of 24.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,759. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 600 shares of company stock worth $63,430 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern Copper by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Company Profile

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.