Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:FCX opened at $44.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.98. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the second quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 42,617 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 62,015 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 25,980 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $984,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. 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.