Analyst Update: Freeport-McMoRan, PulteGroup, Tractor Supply

Analysts are weighing in today on commodity issue Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), homebuilder PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM), and farming retailer Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on FCX, PHM, and TSCO.

• It's been downright ugly for FCX recently. In fact, the shares have underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 65 percentage points during the past three months. It's no different today, with the stock down another 8.8% at $3.75 -- within a chip-shot of new decade-plus lows -- following a price-target cut to $6 from $8 at UBS. And more bearish attention could be on the way. Even with Freeport-McMoRan Inc's epic decline, five analysts say the stock is still at least a "buy," and none have deemed it a "sell" yet. 

• PHM has gained 0.7% to $16.34, bucking the broad-market trend lower, as the shares benefit from an upgrade to "overweight" from "neutral" at J.P. Morgan Securities. Such optimism makes the brokerage firm somewhat of an outlier on Wall Street, where 73% of analysts say PulteGroup, Inc. is a "hold" or worse. It's not hard to see where this skepticism comes from, either. The stock has dropped 26.5% in the past 12 months, and touched a two-year low of $15.76 just last week. 

• TSCO is hurting in the aftermath of a downwardly revised earnings outlook, with the stock giving back 2.9% to sit at $82.21. Analysts have been quick to jump in, with no fewer than four brokerage firms lowering their price targets. RBC set the bar the lowest at $90, though this obviously still represents a premium to current levels. Tractor Supply Company has dropped 12% in the past six months, and is now testing a foothold atop its 50-week moving average. Short sellers have to be pleased; the stock's short-interest ratio is an elevated 7.90, meaning it'd take almost eight sessions for bears to buy back their bets, going by TSCO's average daily volumes.