Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $37.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $33.98 and a one year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.18.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted 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 net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $754,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $84,085,000 after buying an additional 66,699 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,206.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 13,055 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 12,056 shares during the last quarter. 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.