Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.40.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $56.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.34 and a 200-day moving average of $50.68. 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 stock has a market cap of $80.86 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.