BMO Capital Markets Lowers Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $50.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective reduced by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $54.00 to $50.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 31.30% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lifted 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. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.68.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.08. 6,701,237 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,626,472. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 47,144 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 234 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.