In the latest trading session, Southern Copper (SCCO) closed at $171.26, marking a -1.99% move from the previous day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.05% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.09%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.24%.

Shares of the miner have depreciated by 10.34% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Basic Materials sector's loss of 2.52%, and the S&P 500's loss of 1.42%.

The upcoming earnings release of Southern Copper will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.9, reflecting a 55.74% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.26 billion, up 39.64% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.62 per share and revenue of $16.69 billion. These totals would mark changes of +45.42% and +24.4%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Copper. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 9.96% upward. Southern Copper is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Southern Copper is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 22.95. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 23.75.

One should further note that SCCO currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.57. 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. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Mining – Non Ferrous industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.32.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, which puts it in the top 44% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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