Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $68.00 to $76.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.44% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Argus raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.64.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE:FCX traded up $1.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.58. 1,115,850 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,375,582. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $69.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 513,986 shares of company stock worth $32,124,432. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position 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 worth $761,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $721,806,000 after acquiring an additional 7,192,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.