Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $54.00 price target on the natural resource company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $45.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.71.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $44.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $63.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.70. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The company’s revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.