Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Trading 5.3% Higher

Shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) shot up 5.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $116.25 and last traded at $115.78. 197,278 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,196,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC lowered Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $81.70 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Southern Copper Trading Up 5.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.31 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.20.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.17. Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.20% and a return on equity of 30.44%. The business had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 1.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern Copper news, Director PALOMINO BONILLA LUIS MIGUEL sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.30, for a total value of $425,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $261,916.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $35,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director PALOMINO BONILLA LUIS MIGUEL sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.30, for a total transaction of $425,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,916.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,000 shares of company stock worth $472,430. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SCCO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern Copper by 7.0% in the third 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 period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,668,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southern Copper by 471.0% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 31,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 26,111 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 378.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 166,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,322,000 after acquiring an additional 131,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern Copper by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 41,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 22,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 7.94% 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.