Brokerages Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) PT at $48.30

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.1095.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. Dbs Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:FCX opened at $47.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.68. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $49.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.49.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,847,349.26. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 166,630 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $6,535,000 after purchasing an additional 39,624 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,282,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,167 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,883,000. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% in the third quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 18,184 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.