Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 37.11% and a net margin of 27.67%.

Southern Copper Stock Performance

NYSE:SCCO opened at $97.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $76.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.13. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $78.53 and a fifty-two week high of $129.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.12.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

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.