Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $120.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SCCO. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.31.

Southern Copper Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of Southern Copper stock opened at $96.13 on Thursday. 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 has a 12-month low of $84.33 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.64.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 40.27% and a net margin of 29.53%. Analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.