Southern Copper’s (SCCO) “Sell” Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

UBS Group restated their sell rating on shares of Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. UBS Group currently has a $148.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SCCO. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $155.00 target price on shares of Southern Copper and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $129.00 price target on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $129.55.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

SCCO traded down $1.45 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $182.61. The stock had a trading volume of 376,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,079,656. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.52. Southern Copper has a twelve month low of $74.84 and a twelve month high of $191.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.16.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Southern Copper had a net margin of 30.98% and a return on equity of 38.74%. The company had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio is 75.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.00, for a total value of $55,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,835. The trade was a 24.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 948 shares of company stock worth $131,130 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Southern Copper by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 941,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $95,273,000 after purchasing an additional 38,856 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Southern Copper by 5.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 148,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,778,000 after purchasing an additional 7,995 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 82.5% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 5,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $5,436,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 1.3% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 277,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,028,000 after buying an additional 3,449 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO) is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper’s operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.