HSBC Cuts Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $48.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective lowered by HSBC from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

FCX has been the subject of several other research reports. Johnson Rice cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $51.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group set a $48.00 price target on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.73.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $39.81 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $49.12. The company has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.84.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.1% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 943,136 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,707,000 after purchasing an additional 102,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,924,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.