Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $60.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.81% from the company’s current price.

FCX has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $38.77 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth $29,000. 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.