Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Downgraded by Argus to “Hold”

Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $35.81 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $35.46 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The stock has a market cap of $51.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.06 and its 200 day moving average is $43.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after buying an additional 11,687,982 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 142.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,279,517 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $162,964,000 after buying an additional 2,515,103 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,348,522,000 after buying an additional 2,366,187 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $139,183,000 after buying an additional 2,255,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares during the last quarter. 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.