Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.04.

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.7 %

FCX stock opened at $40.72 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $33.98 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.99. The stock has a market cap of $58.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,431 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares during the last quarter. First National Trust Co increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 7,377 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $253,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,019 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. 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.