Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Hits New 1-Year High at $120.56

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $120.56 and last traded at $120.33, with a volume of 777489 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $116.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCCO. HSBC lowered shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.57.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $90.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.29.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.20% and a return on equity of 30.29%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,759. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 600 shares of company stock valued at $63,430 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

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.