Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded by Barclays to Strong-Buy Rating

Barclays upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.72.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $61.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.35. The stock has a market cap of $89.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.32. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $70.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.