Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $40.00 price objective on the natural resource company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $48.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James lifted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.46.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX stock opened at $37.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $54.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.87. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.85.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted 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 return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 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.