Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Clarkson Capital

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Clarkson Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday. The firm currently has a $46.00 target price on the natural resource company’s stock. Clarkson Capital’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.27% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Dbs Bank dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.73.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of FCX stock traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.72. The stock had a trading volume of 5,507,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,506,844. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $49.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.84. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $59.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.64.

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

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth approximately $214,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 943,136 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $35,707,000 after purchasing an additional 102,043 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $1,924,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.