Brokerages Set Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Target Price at $97.31

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.31.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SCCO. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Southern Copper Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $98.78 on Friday. Southern Copper has a 1 year low of $84.33 and a 1 year high of $127.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.59. The company has a market cap of $78.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

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.