Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.3591.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, CICC Research lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth $214,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.3% in the second quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 14,151 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 220.6% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 15,483 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 10,654 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 3,113 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SWP Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. SWP Investment Management LLC now owns 43,231 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX traded down $2.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,541,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,695,506. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $72.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

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.