Zacks Research Weighs in on Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report released on Tuesday, May 7th. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now anticipates that the natural resource company will post earnings of $0.37 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.36. The consensus estimate for Freeport-McMoRan’s current full-year earnings is $1.66 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Freeport-McMoRan’s FY2025 earnings at $1.83 EPS.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Argus increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $49.96 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.20. The company has a market capitalization of $71.66 billion, a PE ratio of 44.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $52.52.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 87.5% during the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 15,278 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 7,128 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.9% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 31,488 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.0% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.2% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 14,814 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $463,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $8,556,218.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,438,509.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 365,667 shares of company stock valued at $18,592,670. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.