Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price was up 1.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $62.28 and last traded at $61.6510. Approximately 12,177,957 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 19,442,230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.61.

Key Headlines Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research lifted earnings estimates for multiple future periods, signaling a stronger profit outlook for Freeport-McMoRan.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that the Grasberg mine may return to full production in 2028 support the longer-term copper production story for FCX.
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock’s recent six-month gain reflects stronger copper prices and earnings, but this move may already reflect much of the optimism. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Higher costs and softer production volumes could pressure near-term results and limit upside in FCX shares. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 24th. CICC Research lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.14.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.79 and its 200-day moving average is $54.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. The trade was a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.