Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.4 %

FCX opened at $43.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.99, a P/E/G ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $36.04 and a one year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.74.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.90%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.