Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $42.69 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $35.29 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.37. The stock has a market cap of $61.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 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.