Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $52.50 Price Target at Bernstein Bank

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective boosted by Bernstein Bank from $52.00 to $52.50 in a report issued on Tuesday morning. Bernstein Bank currently has an overweight rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

FCX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $59.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE FCX opened at $49.40 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.20. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $52.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $70.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.