Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on FCX. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Freeport-McMoRan from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.50 to $62.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.79.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE FCX opened at $44.53 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $63.97 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 16,891 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,656,836 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,369,312,000 after purchasing an additional 976,592 shares during the period. Oaktree Capital Management LP increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 2,917,913 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $124,216,000 after buying an additional 211,608 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,823.1% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 249,885 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,750,000 after buying an additional 236,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,698,442 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,675,241,000 after buying an additional 1,210,833 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.