In the latest trading session, Southern Copper (SCCO) closed at $63.08, marking a +0.02% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.02% gain on the day.

Coming into today, shares of the miner had lost 0.93% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector gained 1.67%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.01%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from SCCO as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.15, up 238.24% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.55 billion, up 42.62% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.33 per share and revenue of $10.42 billion. These totals would mark changes of +113.3% and +30.45%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for SCCO. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 3.71% lower. SCCO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, SCCO currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.58. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.42, which means SCCO is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that SCCO currently has a PEG ratio of 0.78. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Mining – Non Ferrous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.59 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 92, which puts it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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