StockNews.com Upgrades Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) to Buy

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

FCX has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE FCX opened at $37.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.18. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $33.98 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 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%. On average, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.