Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Receives $53.92 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.92.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.2 %

FCX stock opened at $38.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.41 and a 200-day moving average of $45.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% in the third quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 47,144 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is 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.