Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.09.

Several brokerages recently commented on FCX. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE:FCX opened at $37.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.19 and a 200 day moving average of $39.60.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.