Bank of America Downgrades Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) to Neutral

Key Points

• Bank of America downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating with a target price of $42.00, indicating an 11.23% potential upside from the previous close.
• Freeport-McMoRan's stock price fell 16.8% to $37.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, with major trading activity surpassing its average volume.
• The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.45, and had a revenue of $7.58 billion, higher than the $6.85 billion forecast.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $42.00 target price on the natural resource company's stock. Bank of America's target price suggests a potential upside of 11.23% from the company's previous close.

FCX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.73.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 16.8%

FCX stock traded down $7.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.76. 75,925,976 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,654,875. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $43.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.54. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.59.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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