Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shot up 1.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $64.67 and last traded at $63.6690. 22,532,967 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 22,495,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Dbs Bank dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $91.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.