Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX): Will It Be Boosted By Its Energy Buys?

Freeport CEO Richard Adkerson was, however, optimistic on his company’s call about the fit between the metals company and the energy properties being acquired. Regarding the addition of McMoRan, he spoke of “… its pioneering effort to drill to very large attractive structures that have not been drilled before, but have the potential of achieving the kind of production that the industry is achieving in the deepwater.”

Looking at Plains, he noted that the company is “… focused in large part in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, where they recently acquired some strategic and very attractive assets from BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP) … what this will do is add assets that are generating cash which will allow the oil and gas business to fund its capital expenditures and give our company and expanded growth profile with the benefits of having our geographical profile enhanced by more business in the United States.”

The Foolish bottom line
Despite soft copper and gold prices, along with a general lack of enthusiasm about its pending acquisitions — which are expected to close during the current quarter — 47% of the analysts who follow Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) rate the company at least a buy. This compares with 87% of the analysts who follow its Phoenix-based neighbor Southern Copper Corp (NYSE:SCCO) who rate that company no better than a hold.

Nevertheless, in the process of confession that I am a Freeport shareholder, I’d caution Fools to be wary of the further effects of a sluggish world economy on copper prices and potential disruptions from the Plains and McMoRan purchases. Overall, it appears to be an ideal time to remain on Freeport’s sidelines.

The article Will Freeport-McMoRan Be Boosted By Its Energy Buys? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by David Smith.

Motley Fool contributor David Smith owns shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and BP p.l.c. (ADR). The Motley Fool owns shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.

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