Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $87.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.67.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $72.65 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.78. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $38.54 and a 1 year high of $80.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.0750 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 14.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,485,424 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,181,268,000 after buying an additional 2,300,416 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,489,069,000 after buying an additional 7,044,775 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,014,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,924,573 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,918,066 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $938,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,366,596 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $882,050,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894,872 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Freeport-McMoRan News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $87 from $70 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying roughly 20% upside from the referenced share price. The upgrade provides a significant near-term catalyst and reflects confidence in Freeport-McMoRan’s copper exposure and operating outlook. Freeport-McMoRan Stock Gets Price Target Increase from Wells Fargo & Company
• Positive Sentiment: Freeport-McMoRan’s third-quarter copper and gold production met expectations, while recovery efforts at its Grasberg operation advanced. Progress at Grasberg and continued development of major growth projects reinforce expectations for improved production and earnings. Freeport-McMoRan Reports Q3 Copper Output, Advances Grasberg Recovery
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see potential for another earnings beat. Freeport-McMoRan has a strong earnings-surprise history and is described as having the two key ingredients for a likely quarterly beat: favorable earnings estimates and positive estimate revisions. A beat could reinforce the stock’s recent momentum. Will Freeport-McMoRan Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: A market commentary article identifies FCX as a preferred long-term copper investment as copper prices approach multiyear highs and artificial-intelligence infrastructure increases demand for the metal. The thesis is supportive, but it is an investment opinion rather than a new company-specific announcement. 3 Sectors Where Volatility Is Creating Entry Points, Not Exit Signals

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) is a leading international mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.