Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Up 5.6% – Here’s What Happened

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price was up 5.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $61.28 and last traded at $60.9280. Approximately 17,507,310 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 19,537,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.14.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 5.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $87.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. The trade was a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. The trade was a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $560,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 27.0% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,443 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 42.7% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 50,114 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 14,992 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.