Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.56.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCCO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 1,300.4% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 443,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,760,000 after acquiring an additional 411,630 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Southern Copper by 115,910.7% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 336,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,915,000 after purchasing an additional 336,141 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,963,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,796,000 after purchasing an additional 283,562 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 11,510.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 189,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,944,000 after buying an additional 188,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Southern Copper by 1,601.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 192,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,275,000 after buying an additional 181,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $101.33 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31. Southern Copper has a one year low of $70.92 and a one year high of $129.79.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.09%.

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.