Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $36.20 and last traded at $36.23, with a volume of 1490283 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.67 and its 200-day moving average is $43.74. The stock has a market cap of $51.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,494 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,436,455,000 after acquiring an additional 529,099 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,223,038 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $410,494,000 after acquiring an additional 127,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.