Analysts Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Target Price at $52.79

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.93.

A number of research firms have weighed in on FCX. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $51.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.93, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,698,442 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $5,675,241,000 after buying an additional 1,210,833 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,427,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,143,562 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,656,836 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,369,312,000 after purchasing an additional 976,592 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,882,874 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,734,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,157,118 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $994,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,828 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.