Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Rating Increased to Sector Outperform at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $48.00 price objective on the natural resource company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $43.00.

FCX has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX traded down $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.17. 6,183,146 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,374,380. The stock has a market cap of $59.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.95 and a 200 day moving average of $38.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at $366,959,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,046,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054,537 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crake Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2,140.8% during the 1st quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 5,929,623 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $224,496,000 after purchasing an additional 5,665,000 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.