Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Receives $117.94 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.9444.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern Copper from $121.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $155.00 target price on Southern Copper and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $132.00 price target on shares of Southern Copper and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $89.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, October 29th.

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of SCCO opened at $123.35 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.25. The company has a market cap of $100.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 5.27, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $144.81.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 30.98% and a return on equity of 39.62%. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is presently 75.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.35, for a total transaction of $27,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $238,706.55. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 962 shares of company stock worth $118,232. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern Copper by 65.1% in the third quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the third quarter worth $30,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Tobam purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.