Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $79.45 and last traded at $79.82, with a volume of 337395 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SCCO shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.42.

Southern Copper Trading Down 8.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $63.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 64.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 0.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Southern Copper by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern Copper by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.