Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Rating Lowered by Sanford C. Bernstein

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was downgraded by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $46.00 price target on the natural resource company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $51.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $39.77 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $36.26 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a market cap of $57.15 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.