Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southern Copper from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

Southern Copper Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $91.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. Southern Copper has a one year low of $74.11 and a one year high of $126.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 669.1% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 6,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 5,279 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 14,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 17,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 172,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,134,000 after purchasing an additional 12,237 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.