UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Resumes Coverage on Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold with Neutral Rating, $39 PT

In a report published Monday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch resumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold

with a Neutral rating and $39.00 price target. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “We are resuming coverage of Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold (FCX) with a Neutral rating and a $39/share price objective (PO), following FCX's surprising entry to the oil and gas (O&G) industry with the acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) and McMoran Exploration Co. FCX maintains a value creation focus according to management; however, the diversification into oil and gas breaks a long-standing strategic focus in copper (our favorite base metal) from, what we believed to be one of the most disciplined capital allocation mining companies in the industry. We expect FCX to lag its copper peers' performance.” Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold closed on Friday at $31.70.