Scotiabank Cuts Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $52.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target reduced by Scotiabank from $58.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Argus increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $52.67.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE FCX opened at $43.88 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.45. The company has a market capitalization of $63.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,698,442 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,675,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210,833 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,427,583,000 after buying an additional 13,143,562 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,371,604,000 after buying an additional 1,030,451 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,882,874 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,734,234,000 after buying an additional 2,392,800 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,157,118 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $994,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551,828 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.