Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Sets New 52-Week High at $93.17

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $93.17 and last traded at $92.96, with a volume of 335453 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $87.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Southern Copper from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.75.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $72.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $82.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 7.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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