Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from analysts, with four sell and four hold ratings, and an average target price of $93.67.
• The company has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.01 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%.
• Insider trading activity noted that Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the stock, leading to a 15.10% decrease in their ownership stake.

Shares of Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Reduce" by the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.6667.

SCCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $99.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $79.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Southern Copper from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $89.00 price target on Southern Copper and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $41,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,327 shares in the company, valued at $232,700. This trade represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 1,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,102 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCCO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 12,538.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,914,000 after buying an additional 84,005 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 0.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 180,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,911,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 4.5% in the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,243 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 15.8% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 14,061 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $121.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a current ratio of 5.27. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $74.84 and a fifty-two week high of $122.65. The firm has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.22.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.01 per share. This is an increase from Southern Copper's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.02%.

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.

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