Scotiabank Cuts Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $52.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Scotiabank from $53.00 to $52.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price points to a potential upside of 9.13% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.8 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.65. 4,759,136 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,074,491. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $68.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.