Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Up 7% – Here’s What Happened

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price rose 7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $37.57 and last traded at $37.33. Approximately 5,588,674 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 14,413,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $53.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.23 and its 200-day moving average is $42.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $595,702,000 after purchasing an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $351,041,000 after buying an additional 6,486,011 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,735,171 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 21,580,960 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $857,305,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,531 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,273,162 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $619,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488,210 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.