Morgan Stanley Boosts Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target to $100.00

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $100.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Friday, July 12th. They set a neutral rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $89.57.

Southern Copper Price Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $103.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $80.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.80. Southern Copper has a 1-year low of $68.93 and a 1-year high of $129.79.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Southern Copper had a net margin of 26.15% and a return on equity of 34.98%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Copper will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in Southern Copper during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.