Argus Increases Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target to $54.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Argus from $44.00 to $54.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Argus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 10.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FCX. HSBC increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bernstein Bank raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $48.98. 9,306,489 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,845,523. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.14. The company has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 17,417 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 18,489 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 16,302 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 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.