Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Lowered to $53.00 at Scotiabank

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target decreased by Scotiabank from $55.00 to $53.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FCX. HSBC boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $49.77.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $48.24 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $52.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.20 billion, a PE ratio of 42.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.14.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.