Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $55.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on FCX. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $48.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.89. The stock has a market cap of $69.21 billion, a PE ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 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.