Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $51.34 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $73.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.49.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 26.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 16,891 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,656,836 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,369,312,000 after acquiring an additional 976,592 shares in the last quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 2,917,913 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $124,216,000 after acquiring an additional 211,608 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,823.1% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 249,885 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $11,750,000 after purchasing an additional 236,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,698,442 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,675,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,833 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.