Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on FCX. Scotiabank cut their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.50 to $62.00 in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.79.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $45.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $64.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.89. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.06.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 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.