Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Shares Gap Down to $113.43

Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $113.43, but opened at $109.10. Southern Copper shares last traded at $110.79, with a volume of 569,069 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SCCO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Southern Copper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC lowered shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $76.00.

Southern Copper Trading Down 1.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.90. The company has a market cap of $84.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is 101.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCCO. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Southern Copper during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.