Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.10% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:FCX traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.78. 18,225,545 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,440,075. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $36.26 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87.

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

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.