Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Up 3.9% – What’s Next?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price rose 3.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $43.20 and last traded at $43.23. Approximately 13,781,981 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 12,883,366 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

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 company has a 50-day moving average of $38.08 and a 200 day moving average of $41.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.91 billion, a PE ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $754,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,388,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,684,393 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 66,699 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 311,555 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $11,864,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.