Southern Copper Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.01 (NYSE:SCCO)

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 19th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.01 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th.

Southern Copper has raised its dividend payment by an average of 38.7% annually over the last three years. Southern Copper has a dividend payout ratio of 68.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Southern Copper to earn $4.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.1%.

Southern Copper Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE SCCO traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,525,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,725. Southern Copper has a 52-week low of $64.66 and a 52-week high of $121.00. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $103.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.31 and a quick ratio of 2.46.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.20% and a return on equity of 30.44%. Research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SCCO. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southern Copper from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sector underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern Copper has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.50.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In related news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 4,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 600 shares of company stock worth $63,430 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

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.