Brokerages Set Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) PT at $94.42

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.42.

Several research firms recently issued reports on SCCO. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 210.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $84.51 on Tuesday. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $127.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.05 and a 200-day moving average of $99.15. The firm has a market cap of $67.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

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.