UPDATE: Credit Suisse Assumes Coverage On Freeport-McMoRan Inc On Mixed Factors

In a report published Thursday, Credit Suisse analyst Nathan Littlewood assumed coverage on

with a Neutral rating and $37.00 price target. In the report, Credit Suisse noted, “FCX is a quality business which screens as one of the most disciplined allocators of capital in the industry. Management takes long term views on high quality assets and has built a geographically and commodity-diverse portfolio. The copper industry is also attractive, because both supply and demand are concentrated. It does face some challenges, however. Its 2012 Oil & Gas acquisitions were justified on the basis that the Copper and Oil & Gas ‘silos' would remain financially independent and self-financing. Aggressive balance sheet deleveraging targets were also set ($12bn net debt in 2016). Recent commodity price weakness may challenge this commitment. FCX is also moving to bulk underground mining methods, which increase the level of technical operations risk in the medium term.” Freeport-McMoRan Inc closed on Wednesday at $32.96.