Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) traded up 1.3% during trading on Monday after CICC Research raised their price target on the stock from $50.40 to $64.40. CICC Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as high as $63.58 and last traded at $61.21. 31,488,153 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 38% from the average session volume of 22,825,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.41.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after acquiring an additional 8,292,873 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% in the second quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $412,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,593,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,844,504 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $150,781,000 after buying an additional 2,856,302 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.00. The company has a market capitalization of $87.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The company had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.87%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.