Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $59.00 price target on the natural resource company's stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.6 %

FCX stock traded up $1.30 on Tuesday, reaching $51.30. 17,624,776 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,447,552. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $52.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $73.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.11.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given 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 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 97.1% during the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 670 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.