Scotiabank Raises Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target to $55.00

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector underperform" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Scotiabank's price target indicates a potential downside of 52.32% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.71.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.0 %

SCCO traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $115.36. 1,000,748 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,111,715. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock's 50-day moving average is $95.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.72. Southern Copper has a 1-year low of $64.66 and a 1-year high of $120.37. The stock has a market cap of $89.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.29.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Southern Copper by 200.6% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,179,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $208,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,789,376 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Southern Copper by 43.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,763,612 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,759,000 after purchasing an additional 835,044 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,802,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 10.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,797,970 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $594,595,000 after purchasing an additional 756,555 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 80.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,537,487 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $117,233,000 after purchasing an additional 685,541 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently 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.