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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.1773.

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $62.54 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $35.15 and a 1 year high of $72.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 14.78%.

Key Freeport-McMoRan News

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FCX reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.74 and revenue of $7.03 billion, both ahead of Wall Street estimates, helped by higher realized copper and gold prices. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management said the Grasberg ramp remains on schedule, U.S. operations are improving, and the brownfield copper pipeline is expanding, which supports longer-term production growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on FCX to $73 from $70, signaling continued analyst confidence in the stock’s upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent writeups highlighted strong income growth, free cash flow, and the benefit of firmer copper prices, reinforcing the investment case for FCX. Article Title

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.