Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $133.25 and last traded at $130.30, with a volume of 2579576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $128.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SCCO. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Southern Copper in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $155.00 price target on Southern Copper and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Southern Copper and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $102.83.

Southern Copper Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 4.51, a current ratio of 5.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $103.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.02.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.01 dividend. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Southern Copper’s payout ratio is currently 70.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $41,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $232,700. This represents a 15.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,102 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Southern Copper by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Tobam purchased a new position in Southern Copper in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Copper during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Southern Copper Company Profile

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.