Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $48.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective trimmed by Scotiabank from $52.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

FCX has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.15.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:FCX opened at $38.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.89. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $55.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 21.90%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687,982 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $139,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255,529 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,943,074 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $288,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,560 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is 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.