Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Up 4.7% – Here’s Why

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCXGet Free Report) traded up 4.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $54.45 and last traded at $54.38. 26,730,281 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 40% from the average session volume of 19,122,473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.93.

Key Headlines Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FCX. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.49.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $78.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.45.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCXGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in 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. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 69.7% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 9,140 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 3,754 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 73.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372,776 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $50,916,000 after acquiring an additional 579,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 20.6% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 20,915 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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