Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Reaches New 12-Month High at $120.56

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $120.56 and last traded at $120.33, with a volume of 777489 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $116.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "sector underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.00.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $100.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.04. The stock has a market cap of $93.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.29.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.29% and a net margin of 24.20%. On average, analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,759. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 600 shares of company stock valued at $63,430. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCCO. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 7.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 80,682 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,075,000 after acquiring an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $1,668,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern Copper by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 41,223 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 22,471 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Copper by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 687,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,854,000 after acquiring an additional 102,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

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.