Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $54.38 and last traded at $54.0130, with a volume of 4618143 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Clarkson Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, CICC Research reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $51.60 to $42.30 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.87.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.4%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.94, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.45.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 21.13%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This trade represents 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

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% during the second quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $412,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,593,050 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.