Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. HSBC cut Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Southern Copper from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.50.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO traded down $2.97 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $115.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,000,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,184,883. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.89. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $64.66 and a fifty-two week high of $121.00.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.44% and a net margin of 24.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Copper will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern Copper

In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $35,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,759. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 600 shares of company stock valued at $63,430 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern Copper

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in Southern Copper by 1.9% in the first quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 5,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Southern Copper by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co raised its position in Southern Copper by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 37,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.