JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Price Target to $83.50

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $84.00 to $83.50 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SCCO. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern Copper from $52.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Copper presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.58.

Southern Copper Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SCCO opened at $86.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.57 and a 200-day moving average of $98.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $127.34.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This is a positive change from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the third quarter valued at $1,397,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern Copper by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 613,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,437,000 after acquiring an additional 20,204 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern Copper by 488.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 30,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,561,000 after acquiring an additional 25,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 71,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,256,000 after purchasing an additional 16,805 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.