UBS Group Downgrades Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) to Neutral

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the natural resource company's stock. UBS Group's price target points to a potential upside of 5.95% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.5%

FCX stock opened at $47.19 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $52.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $40.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $67.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.64.

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

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $366,959,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Amundi raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% during the first 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Crake Asset Management LLP raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2,140.8% during the first 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 during the period. 80.77% of the stock is 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.

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