HSBC Raises Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $45.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target upped by HSBC from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research note published on Tuesday. They currently have a hold rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

FCX has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $50.48 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.47 and its 200 day moving average is $40.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $72.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.04. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13,248.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,351,630 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $227,747,000 after purchasing an additional 5,311,538 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at $160,160,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at $141,407,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 57.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,391,230 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $201,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,987 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 302.7% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,393,264 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $112,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.