UBS Group Lowers Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target to $140.00

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sell” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 13.53% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on SCCO. Scotiabank restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $139.20.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO opened at $161.91 on Friday. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $223.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.80. The company has a market capitalization of $132.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 3.40, a current ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Southern Copper had a net margin of 32.30% and a return on equity of 41.97%. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total transaction of $33,697.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $298,042.20. This represents a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras sold 9,326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.56, for a total value of $1,954,344.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,783.04. This represents a 93.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,526 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,373 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the third quarter worth $25,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 65.1% during the third quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Company Profile

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper’s operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.