Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on FCX. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $41.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.15. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $49.21. The company has a market cap of $58.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.58.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 21.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% in the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.