Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Freeport-McMoRan has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Wells Fargo, following a comprehensive review by analysts.
• Several brokerages have recently altered their price targets on Freeport-McMoRan, with Deutsche Bank adjusting theirs from $47.00 to $45.00 and Citigroup setting a target price of $48.00.
• The company's stock is currently priced at $43.31, reflecting a 1.1% increase, and it has a market capitalization of $62.18 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.56.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $43.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.57. The company has a market cap of $62.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $50.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 27,055 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,805 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the period. 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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