Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 37.11% and a net margin of 27.67%.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

SCCO traded up $2.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.67. 441,885 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,117,245. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. Southern Copper has a 52-week low of $77.42 and a 52-week high of $129.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.18.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 72.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern Copper currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

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.