Analysts Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Price Target at $48.36

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.36.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FCX. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of FCX traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.06. 8,919,686 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,453,480. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $36.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.52. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $53.29. The stock has a market cap of $56.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.