Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $55.00. The stock had previously closed at $45.14, but opened at $48.18. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $47.89, with a volume of 2,534,704 shares.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. 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. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

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.