Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Southern Copper received a consensus “Reduce” rating from 15 analysts: seven rated it a sell, five a hold and three a buy. The average 12-month price target is $146.84, below the stock’s reported $188.30 price.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.99, beating estimates by $0.06, while revenue rose 40.6% year over year to $4.29 billion but fell short of forecasts.
• Southern Copper increased its quarterly dividend to $1.10 per share, representing a $4.40 annualized payout and a 2.3% yield; insiders have sold 604 shares over the past 90 days.

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $146.8402.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SCCO. UBS Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $158.10 target price (up from $143.28) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $168.97 to $169.96 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays set a $164.03 price objective on Southern Copper and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern Copper from $125.49 to $129.94 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Luis Palomino Bonilla sold 202 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.79, for a total transaction of $39,751.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,066.65. The trade was a 10.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 604 shares of company stock worth $118,077. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 8,035.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,545,080 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,580,186,000 after purchasing an additional 20,292,556 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $1,729,500,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at approximately $318,448,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at approximately $149,739,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,645,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Stock Down 2.7%

Southern Copper stock opened at $188.30 on Tuesday. Southern Copper has a one year low of $105.10 and a one year high of $223.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $190.95 and a 200 day moving average of $184.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 5.06. The stock has a market cap of $157.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.14.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 35.87% and a return on equity of 49.04%. The company's revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 7.83 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is 64.33%.

Southern Copper Company Profile

Southern Copper Corporation NYSE: SCCO is an integrated copper producer engaged in the exploration, mining, processing, smelting and refining of minerals. The company produces copper in the form of cathodes, concentrates and anodes, along with byproducts including molybdenum, zinc, silver, lead and sulfuric acid.

Southern Copper operates mining and processing facilities in Mexico and Peru. Its principal Mexican operations include the Buenavista del Cobre and La Caridad mining complexes, while its Peruvian operations include the Toquepala and Cuajone mines and the Ilo smelter and refinery.

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