Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Sets New 52-Week High at $117.86

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $117.86 and last traded at $117.00, with a volume of 217917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.83.

Southern Copper Trading Up 3.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $90.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $90.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.76.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 24.51% and a return on equity of 30.85%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is presently 101.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 283,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,611 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 48.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,974 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,901 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter worth about $388,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 121.4% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,138,000 after buying an additional 94,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,022,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $532,978,000 after buying an additional 680,165 shares during the period. 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.