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

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.81.

SCCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Southern Copper from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Southern Copper from $99.44 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $96.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.14. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $77.42 and a twelve month high of $129.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.58 and a 200-day moving average of $103.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Southern Copper had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 37.11%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,034 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 375,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 46.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 98,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 31,044 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is 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.