Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 4.2% – Here’s What Happened

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price traded up 4.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $62.05 and last traded at $61.2530. 23,644,531 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average session volume of 20,929,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 4.2%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company has a market cap of $88.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This 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 worth $35,839,918. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Lane Brothers & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 28,679 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 11,017 shares in the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $390,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 204,494 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $10,388,000 after purchasing an additional 32,461 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by 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.