Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded by Citigroup to Buy Rating

Key Points

• Citigroup upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating, with a target price of $48.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.86% from its previous close.
• Several other firms, including Bank of America and Sanford C. Bernstein, have also recently upgraded their ratings on Freeport-McMoRan's stock, reflecting a growing bullish sentiment among analysts.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.54, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 14.5% year-over-year, indicating strong financial performance.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $48.00 target price on the natural resource company's stock. Citigroup's price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.86% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.0%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $40.73 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $42.35 and its 200-day moving average is $40.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $50.28. The company has a market cap of $58.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.58.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

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

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