Scotiabank Cuts Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $40.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.65.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $33.80 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. On average, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 22,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Palogic Value Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 20,277 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.