Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the natural resource company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $48.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.91% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on FCX. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.81.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $38.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 85,542 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 71,883 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at about $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.