Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Up 7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shot up 7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $37.57 and last traded at $37.33. 5,588,674 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 14,413,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 7.2 %

The company has a market cap of $53.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.54.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 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 FCX. Prospera Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% in the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 50,431 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,518,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 71,758 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.