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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.3591.

Several research analysts have commented on FCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HSBC boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $721,806,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,489,069,000 after acquiring an additional 7,044,775 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $60.55 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $72.28. The company has a market cap of $87.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.