Analysts Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Target Price at $53.00

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.92.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $47.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.92 billion, a PE ratio of 42.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.87. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in 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 valued at $3,427,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,143,562 shares during the period. Capital International Investors bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at $417,752,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $712,600,000 after purchasing an additional 4,396,309 shares in the last quarter. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at $162,464,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.