Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $55.00 price objective on the natural resource company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $54.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $49.50 to $62.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $53.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE FCX opened at $40.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.46 billion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.16 and a 200-day moving average of $46.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,582,000. Souders Financial Advisors increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 16,819 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 3,997 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.0% during the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 10,056 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 92.2% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 225,801 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $10,973,000 after acquiring an additional 108,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 10.1% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 320,419 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,572,000 after acquiring an additional 29,394 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.