Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 3.7% – Should You Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.93 and last traded at $38.15. 3,168,915 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 15,067,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on FCX. Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $55.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.15.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 351.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 475,754 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $23,749,000 after acquiring an additional 370,401 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,726 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.9% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,057 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,480 shares in 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.