Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.92.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $37.71 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $36.26 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.98.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is a boost from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,586 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 1,815 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 194.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,042 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 49,041 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 14,167 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $84,085,000 after purchasing an additional 66,699 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.