Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on FCX. HSBC raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of FCX stock opened at $50.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.35. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $52.42. The company has a market capitalization of $72.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% during the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 17,417 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% during the first quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 18,489 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the first quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 16,302 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.