Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Lowered to “Sector Perform” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $52.00 price objective on the natural resource company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $49.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $71.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.63.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 26,699 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,127,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 20,315 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 5,397 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 122,378 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.