Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $34.25 and last traded at $34.26, with a volume of 11721844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on 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, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.7 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $52.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Prospera Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 71,758 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,646 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by 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.