Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $60.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Monday, January 6th,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.73% from the stock’s previous close.

FCX has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.30 on Monday, hitting $39.11. The stock had a trading volume of 4,298,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,913,258. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.53. The stock has a market cap of $56.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 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 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,170.7% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 521 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 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.