Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Sanford C. Bernstein

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $46.00 price target on the natural resource company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $51.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.67% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $39.77 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $36.26 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.77. The company has a market cap of $57.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after buying an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $139,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255,529 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,943,074 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $288,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,560 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.