Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Cut to Hold at Argus

Argus cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $35.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $35.46 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.06 and a 200-day moving average of $43.35. The stock has a market cap of $51.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,436,455,000 after buying an additional 529,099 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,348,522,000 after buying an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $410,494,000 after acquiring an additional 127,251 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.