JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Target Price to $51.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $52.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on FCX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $59.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $50.50 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $52.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69, a P/E/G ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 2.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.15 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 26.55%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake 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 period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.