Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Sets New 1-Year High at $106.99

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $106.99 and last traded at $106.41, with a volume of 566749 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $104.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.83.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $82.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.06.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCCO. Hartford Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the third quarter worth $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.