Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Given New $140.00 Price Target at UBS Group
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailySouthern Copper (NYSE:SCCO – Get Free Report) had its target price cut by UBS Group from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 14.16% from the company’s previous close.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SCCO. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Itau BBA Securities cut shares of Southern Copper from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $124.94 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Scotiabank reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern Copper from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $139.20.
Read Our Latest Report on SCCO
Southern Copper Stock Performance
Shares of SCCO traded up $3.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.10. The company had a trading volume of 578,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,194,010. Southern Copper has a 52-week low of $74.84 and a 52-week high of $223.88. The company has a quick ratio of 3.40, a current ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.74, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $190.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.01.
Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 41.97% and a net margin of 32.30%.The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Southern Copper will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Southern Copper news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.60, for a total transaction of $33,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 10.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lerdo De Tejada Leon Contreras sold 9,326 shares of Southern Copper stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.56, for a total transaction of $1,954,344.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,783.04. This trade represents a 93.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,526 shares of company stock worth $1,989,373 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Copper
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern Copper by 65.1% during the third quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in Southern Copper during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.
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.