Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Rating Increased to Market Perform at Itau BBA Securities

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Itau BBA Securities from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $84.00 to $83.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southern Copper from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southern Copper from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.50.

Southern Copper Price Performance

SCCO stock traded down $1.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 221,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,345,134. The stock has a market cap of $74.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average is $90.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.32. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $74.84 and a fifty-two week high of $121.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 117.6% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern Copper in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 210.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.