Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $89.10) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $117.94.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO opened at $143.86 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.07. Southern Copper has a 52 week low of $74.84 and a 52 week high of $144.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.52.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 38.74% and a net margin of 30.98%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total value of $55,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,835. This represents a 24.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,148 shares of company stock valued at $152,218. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Southern Copper by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 941,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,273,000 after buying an additional 38,856 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 140,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,326,000 after acquiring an additional 8,531 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 82.5% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 5,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,298 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter valued at about $5,436,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 1.3% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 277,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,028,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.