Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Receives $94.81 Average Target Price from Analysts

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 7.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 375,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 3.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 23.0% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 46.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 98,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 31,044 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $96.52 on Thursday. Southern Copper has a 52 week low of $77.42 and a 52 week high of $129.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.61. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.