Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Raised to $80.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $76.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.95.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.6%

FCX stock opened at $63.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $63.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.33. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $72.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. The firm has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Steph & Co. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Essex Bank boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FCX reported second-quarter earnings of $0.74 per share, ahead of the $0.62 consensus, while revenue of $7.03 billion also topped estimates, helped by higher realized metal prices. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Freeport-McMoRan said net income rose sharply year over year, and commentary around strong income growth and improved operations points to healthy underlying profitability. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Higher copper prices provided a tailwind to results, and one analyst also raised FCX’s price target to $80, suggesting some optimism remains around the stock’s longer-term setup. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management posted its quarterly and six-month results and highlighted strategic expansions, but also noted challenges from capital spending and regulatory approvals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are under pressure because lower operating rates at the Grasberg mine and a softer copper sales outlook for the next quarter have raised concerns about near-term production and revenue. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness in copper prices has also weighed on sentiment across the sector, adding to investor caution around FCX’s near-term earnings momentum. Article Title

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.