Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Given New $135.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 17.25% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Southern Copper from $61.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. CICC Research initiated coverage on Southern Copper in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC downgraded 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern Copper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $130.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.57.

Southern Copper Trading Down 1.3 %

SCCO opened at $115.14 on Tuesday. Southern Copper has a one year low of $64.66 and a one year high of $121.00. The company has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.56.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a net margin of 24.20% and a return on equity of 30.29%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 164.8% during 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 in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.