Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) fell 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $69.96 and last traded at $70.0750. Approximately 16,644,939 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 16,443,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. Weiss Ratings raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Freedom Broker cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.69.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.29. The company has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0750 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total transaction of $6,284,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 122,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271 in the last 90 days. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 319,057 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $20,065,000 after purchasing an additional 38,807 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,939,938 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $122,002,000 after purchasing an additional 25,218 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,485,424 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,181,268,000 after buying an additional 2,300,416 shares during the last quarter. U S Wealth Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,687,524 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $169,018,000 after buying an additional 117,888 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) is a leading international mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.