Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Cut to $58.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.79.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $44.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.23. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,143,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,286 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,696,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,582,000. 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.