Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.50.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $57.45 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.58. 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 1 year low of $35.15 and a 1 year high of $72.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,267,000 after acquiring an additional 73,002 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $8,857,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 175.4% in the fourth quarter. Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne Allianz Polska S.A. now owns 1,379,760 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $70,078,000 after purchasing an additional 878,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.