Boston, MA 08/18/2014 (wallstreetpr) – The investors who would like to take positions in the Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) are getting confused about the company’s future prospects. The different view of analysts is making it tough for them to have a clear view on the stock of Freeport. Recently, the company was downgraded from the analysts at Stifel Nicolaus.
The ratings
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) saw a downgrade from the analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. The analysts downgraded Freeport-McMoRan Stock to hold from the previous rating of buy. The analysts changed the view on the basis of a simple concept that the good news has been priced in. It expects the negotiations between the Indonesian Government and Freeport-McMoRan to come to an end. The stock has already gained more than 16% since March. As of now, the analysts don’t suggest the investors to buy the Freeport stock at current market rate.
The matter
It was a long disputed matter between Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) and the Indonesian government. The copper mining was suspended due to the matter of taxes linked with copper exports. The mining was suspended for the duration of six months. The MoU was signed between the Indonesian government and Freeport-McMoRan under which the dispute ended on July 25. The company started with the copper mining in Indonesia.
A contradictory view
The ratings of Stifel Nicolaus contradict the rating of Bank of America. It upgraded Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX)’s stocks from the “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. Surprisingly, the bank had done opposite in July when it had downgraded the stock from rating of buy to hold rating. At that time, most of the analysts have reiterated the hold rating due to the problems linked with the negotiations related with the copper mining issue. However, most of the analysts are bullish on Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), where 15 analysts consider it as a buy, eight suggests hold while two analysts suggests selling the stock.
