Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 3.7% – Still a Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price shot up 3.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $37.93 and last traded at $38.15. 3,168,915 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 15,067,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.18. The company has a market cap of $54.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,692,191,000 after buying an additional 642,776 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,965,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,494 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,214,203,000 after buying an additional 5,735,171 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,122,922,000 after purchasing an additional 688,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,123,445,000 after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.