Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Wolfe Research currently has $39.00 price objective on the natural resource company’s stock.

FCX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.39.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $32.90 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.52. The stock has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 23.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 33.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,867 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.0% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 10,306 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $246,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $754,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 155,081 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,742,000 after buying an additional 8,995 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by 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.