Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on FCX. Argus downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.0 %

FCX opened at $40.31 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $33.98 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.96. The company has a market cap of $57.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $503,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 180,623 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,878,000 after purchasing an additional 22,206 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 444,942 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $16,943,000 after purchasing an additional 12,816 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $17,815,000. Finally, PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $1,908,000. 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.