Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.56.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $40.92 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $50.28. The company has a market capitalization of $58.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.58.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at $374,000. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% in the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,213,000 after purchasing an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.8% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,410 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 68.9% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 13,397 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 5,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $528,000. 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.