Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $42.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $52.00 to $42.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Argus lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.88.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

FCX opened at $33.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.06.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,692,191,000 after acquiring an additional 642,776 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,122,922,000 after purchasing an additional 688,240 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,123,445,000 after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $916,037,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.