Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) PT Lowered to $58.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.31% from the company’s current price.

FCX has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.79.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $44.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The stock has a market cap of $63.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.05.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.