Analyst Upgrades: Barrick Gold Corporation, Freeport-McMoRan Inc, and DuPont

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (ABX), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX), and DuPont (DD)

by Alex Eppstein

Published on Oct 3, 2016 at 9:17 AM

Analysts are weighing in on mining stocks Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) and Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), as well as industrial conglomerate DuPont (NYSE:DD). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on ABX, FCX, and DD.

ABX saw its rating raised to "buy" from "hold" at Deutsche Bank. Such enthusiasm from the brokerage crowd is relatively rare, considering 12 of 15 analysts rate the shares a "hold" or a "strong sell" -- leaving plenty of room for additional upgrades. By no means is today's show of positivity unwarranted. In fact, Barrick Gold Corporation has surged 140% year-to-date to trade at $17.72, and is pointed another 0.5% higher ahead of the open. Meanwhile, it remains a great time to purchase premium on short-term options, considering ABX's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 41% ranks in the low 5th percentile of its annual range.

FCX also was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Deutsche Bank, sending the shares 2.2% higher pre-market, relative to Friday's settlement at $10.86. This comes despite a labor dispute that's broken out at the mining firm's Papua, Indonesia, copper mine. On the charts, Freeport-McMoRan Inc has been chopping mostly between $10-$13 since mid-April, but remains over 60% higher on a year-to-date basis. If today's boost materializes and helps FCX break out of its sideways pattern, additional upgrades are a definite possibility. After all, 10 of 13 analysts consider the long-term outperformer either a "hold" or a "strong sell." Then again, the stock has historically struggled during the fourth quarter, so late-year gains are far from guaranteed.

Citigroup raised its opinion of DD to "buy" from "neutral," and bumped its price target up to $76 from $72. However, the European Union (EU) is resuming its probe into the $130 billion merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW). Amid the mixed news, DD shares have managed a 1.4% gain ahead of the open. Longer term, though, the stock is more or less flat in 2016, at $66.97. On the sentiment front, short sellers recently rushed the equity. By the numbers, short interest spiked nearly 46% during the last two reporting periods to 14.5 million shares, which would take more than a week to cover, at DD's typical trading rate.

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