Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $40.00 price objective on the natural resource company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $48.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.91% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on FCX. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.81.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $38.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. 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 has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is 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.