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

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $60.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.81% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FCX. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $38.77 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.81. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 168.4% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 597,473 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.8% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 76,473 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,717,000 after buying an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 94,270 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after buying an additional 11,359 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.3% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 24,048 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after buying an additional 7,610 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.