Scotiabank Lowers Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $52.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $53.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on FCX. Raymond James lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $46.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.85. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $67.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,139 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,217 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 57.8% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 25,843 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 157,645 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,412,000 after buying an additional 4,547 shares during the period. 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.