Analysts Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Price Target at $53.92

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.92.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank cut their target price 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 price target 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. Raymond James raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in 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 buying an additional 529,099 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $1,348,522,000 after buying an additional 2,366,187 shares during the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the third 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, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,028,452 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $536,038,000 after acquiring an additional 530,676 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.4 %

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

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

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.90%.

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.