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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.42.

FCX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 3.1 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $39.07 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $36.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.08. The stock has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,093 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 74.3% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 55,421 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,693,000 after buying an additional 23,629 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 60.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 274,740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $13,352,000 after buying an additional 102,993 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 95.7% in the 2nd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,175 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,327,000. 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.