Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.
A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Sunday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Scotiabank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.42.
Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance
Shares of FCX opened at $36.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $46.73. The stock has a market cap of $52.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 2.00.
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 21st. The natural resource company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,678 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total value of $504,139.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,815.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hartford Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 120,774 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,941,000 after acquiring an additional 17,471 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,637,743 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $67,000,000 after buying an additional 25,302 shares during the period. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 160,833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,580,000 after buying an additional 11,900 shares during the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 36,290 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.7% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 53,308 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 14,877 shares in the last quarter. 77.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan, Inc engages in the mining of copper, gold, and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining, Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining, and Corporate and Other. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Baghdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico.