Freeport-McMoRan Receives Upgrade from StockNews.com

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating by research analysts from StockNews.com, as detailed in a report released on Wednesday. This upgrade is seen as a positive shift for the company.

Many analysts have recently reviewed Freeport-McMoRan. For instance, BMO Capital Markets adjusted their price target for the stock from $54.00 down to $50.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating as of January 24th. On January 16th, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target from $55.00 to $48.00, categorizing it as "neutral." Scotiabank also decreased its price objective for Freeport from $48.00 to $45.00, assigning it a "sector perform" rating on January 24th. Meanwhile, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded the stock from "hold" to "buy," raising their target price from $40.00 to $48.00 on February 27th. Additionally, Sanford C. Bernstein revised their rating from "outperform" to "market perform," reducing their target from $51.00 to $46.00 on January 7th.

Currently, market analysts have issued a total of six hold ratings for the stock, nine recommend buying, and two suggest strong buy ratings. According to MarketBeat data, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target established at $51.75.

Stock Performance of Freeport-McMoRan

On Wednesday, shares of FCX increased by $0.96, ultimately reaching a trading price of $36.84. The day saw a total of 13,838,337 shares traded, which is notably lower than its average volume of 15,355,858 shares. The stock's moving averages are currently at $37.92 for the 50-day and $42.18 for the 200-day. Financially, the company maintains a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42, and a quick ratio of 1.18. With a market capitalization of $52.94 billion, its price-to-earnings ratio stands at 28.56, while the P/E/G ratio is at 0.87, and it has a beta of 1.87. Over the past 12 months, Freeport-McMoRan’s stock has ranged from a low of $33.98 to a high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan recently announced its quarterly earnings on January 23rd, where it reported earnings of $0.31 per share, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. The company had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Analysts project that Freeport-McMoRan will achieve earnings of $1.68 per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investments in Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors have been adjusting their positions in Freeport-McMoRan, with several acquiring new stakes. Notable acquisitions include Asset Planning Inc, which purchased shares worth approximately $25,000, and Mizuho Bank Ltd., which also bought shares valued around $26,000 during the fourth quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC and Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC have made similar moves as well, with the latter increasing its stake by 487.8%. Overall, institutional investors currently hold around 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is engaged in mining and exploring various mineral properties across North America, South America, and Indonesia, focusing mainly on copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. Some of the company's key assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia, several mines in Arizona, and operations in Peru and Chile.

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