Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.15.

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of FCX traded down $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $48.00. 19,436,847 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,933,710. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 2.04. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $52.42. The stock's 50 day moving average is $44.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.14.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 8.41%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 23.62%.

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.