Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on FCX. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $53.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.8 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $43.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.40. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.09.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,427,583,000 after buying an additional 13,143,562 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $417,752,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $712,600,000 after purchasing an additional 4,396,309 shares during the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $162,464,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.