Wall Street Zen Downgrades Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) to Hold

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

SCCO has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Southern Copper from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $178.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southern Copper from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America downgraded Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $144.43.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

Shares of SCCO opened at $176.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.89, a current ratio of 4.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Southern Copper has a 52-week low of $88.54 and a 52-week high of $223.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.35. The company has a market capitalization of $144.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.07.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. Southern Copper had a net margin of 34.13% and a return on equity of 45.63%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Southern Copper will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total transaction of $33,697.80. Following the sale, the director owned 1,707 shares in the company, valued at $298,042.20. This trade represents a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southern Copper by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,437,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $781,268,000 after buying an additional 1,708,693 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,862,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $410,646,000 after acquiring an additional 66,268 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,536,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $363,873,000 after acquiring an additional 7,194 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,181,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,480,000 after acquiring an additional 90,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 12.8% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,091,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $132,479,000 after acquiring an additional 123,532 shares during the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Copper Company Profile

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.