Analyst Upgrades: Freeport-McMoRan, Goldcorp, Range Resources

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG), and Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC)

Karee Venema

May 2, 2016 at 9:47 AM

Analysts weighed in on miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), gold stock Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG), and oil-and-gas issue Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes in FCX, GG, and RRC.

After closing Friday at $14 -- its highest weekly settlement since last July, FCX is off 0.1% at $13.99, despite price-target hikes from Barclays (to $10) and Deutsche Bank (to $11). Longer term, the stock has nearly quadrupled since bottoming at a 15-year low of $3.52 on Jan. 20, even with last week's post-earnings slip. Nevertheless, put buyers have been active, per Freeport-McMoRan Inc's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 1.35 -- in the 98th annual percentile.

Gold stocks have been on fire this year, and GG is no exception. Year-to-date, the shares of GG are up roughly 71% at $19.81, and hit an annual high of $20.24 out of the gate, after Desjardins boosted its price target for Goldcorp Inc. (USA) to $26 from $23. More bullish brokerage notes could be on the horizon, considering half of those covering GG maintain a "hold" or "strong sell" recommendation. Plus, the average 12-month price target of $18.90 stands at a discount to the stock's current price.

Analysts have been enamored with RRC in recent weeks. Over the weekend, for example, the stock received no fewer than seven price-target hikes, including one to $49 from $39 at Bernstein. KLR, meanwhile, lowered its rating to "accumulate" from "buy." On the charts, Range Resources Corp. has tacked on 74.6% year-to-date, but is off 2.6% this morning at $42.98. Short-term options traders have shown a distinct preference for puts over calls, with RRC's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.59 resting above 82% of all comparable readings taken in the past year.

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