Bear of the Day: Southern Copper (SCCO) - Bear of the Day
July 05 2013 - 4:28AM
Zacks
Global markets are once again reeling thanks to a number of
political issues. Emerging markets are under pressure thanks to a
variety of protests, while developed markets in Europe are facing
uncertainty thanks to more debt concerns.
This trend has led to devastating consequences for a variety of
commodity producers, as the dollar has strengthened against a
number of global currencies. Plus, many key markets such as China
could see reduced demand levels in the months ahead, further adding
to commodity producers’ woes.
In particular, gold and silver miners have seen weakness in this
environment, falling by well over 45%, as represented by the
Gold Mining ETF (GDX), since the start of 2013.
Yet, while many investors have been laser-focused on the precious
metal market, there has also been significant weakness in the base
metal world as well.
Companies in this space have been hit hard by the same issues of
a strong dollar and sluggish international demand, and could thus
be ones to avoid as well. One firm in particular that could
struggle in this environment is Southern Copper
(SCCO).
Southern Copper in Focus
SCCO is a major U.S.-based producer of copper in key Latin
American countries, but especially in Peru and Mexico. The firm
mines over one billion pounds of copper—for the last full
year—while it smelts and refines a similar amount as well.
The company saw soaring stock prices for much of 2012, although
the firm did see extreme price volatility. However, the stock has
since cratered in 2013, falling by about 30% in the first half of
the year.
This slump has been largely due to two key factors; the weak
outlook for copper, and the low earnings growth projections for the
firm by analysts. In fact, current projections are looking for a
year-over-year earnings contraction of 20% for the full year
period, with similar double digit contractions for the current
quarter and next quarter periods too.
Analysts have also taken down their estimates of the
company in recent weeks, as not a single estimate has gone higher
in the past 90 days. The current year earnings consensus is now
just $2.04/share, a far cry from the $2.63/share that analysts were
expecting 90 days ago.
Thanks to this trend, SCCO has earned itself a Zacks Rank #5
(Strong Sell), suggesting that it will underperform in the near
term. And with the sluggish outlook for copper for the rest of
2013, it seems like it will be difficult for SCCO to break out of
its slump and push higher, especially considering the falling
earnings expectations.
![](http://staticzacks.net/images/zacks/blogs/1372875970_scaled_425.jpg)
Better Plays?
It is hard to find a good play in the Zacks Industry of Mining
non-Ferrous metals, as the industry currently has a rank of 247 out
of 261. In fact, in our five mining industries, there are only two
#1 Ranked stocks; Brigus Gold (BRD) and
Impala (IMPUY).
Both of these are in struggling industries, but they have proven
to be best-in-class thanks to improving earnings estimates. Plus,
both have seen their ranks surge from holds (or worse) up to strong
buy territory, suggesting either of these names might be better
picks than the struggling SCCO at this time.
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BRIGUS GOLD CP (BRD): Free Stock Analysis Report
MKT VEC-GOLD MI (GDX): ETF Research Reports
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SOUTHERN COPPER (SCCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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