Why Southern Copper Is Poised to Keep Rallying

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, copper giant Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Southern Copper and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Southern Copper facts

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Headquarters (founded)	Phoenix, Ariz. (1952)
Market Cap	$34.0 billion
Industry	Diversified metals and mining
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$6.7 billion
Management	CEO Oscar Rocha (since 2004) CFO Genaro Mercado (since 2008)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)	47.7%
Cash/Debt	$2.6 billion/$4.2 billion
Dividend Yield	2.3%
Competitors	BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP  ) Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX  ) Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO  )

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 4,317 members who have rated Southern Copper believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Earlier this week, one of those Fools, niss799, succinctly summed up the Southern Copper bull case for our community:

Copper is one of the primary minerals needed when industrial construction is growing. As this recession starts to give way to a bull market and construction increases copper will once again climb. [Southern Copper] has a dividend of $0.96 with a yield of 2.30%, good revenue and cash on [hand]. Debt is higher than I would like but the investments in equipment, land and processing mandate this.

If you want market-topping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite its four-star rating, Southern Copper may not be your top choice.

We've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.