Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. HSBC upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $51.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.35, a PEG ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 2.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $49.34 and its 200-day moving average is $42.51. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $55.24. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 64,053 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,012,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,083 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.3% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.