Brokerages Set Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target at $76.83

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.83.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern Copper by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 80,682 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,075,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 102,286 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 89,468 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,736,000 after acquiring an additional 16,168 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 51,747 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCCO traded up $2.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,130,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,442,260. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.97 and a 200-day moving average of $80.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $82.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92 and a beta of 1.27. Southern Copper has a 12-month low of $64.66 and a 12-month high of $107.13.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is currently 101.91%.

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.