Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $68.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its target price boosted by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 13.48% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FCX. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Johnson Rice lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Clarkson Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $47.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.30.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE FCX traded down $0.43 on Wednesday, hitting $59.92. The company had a trading volume of 18,274,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,665,992. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.30. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $60.71. The company has a market capitalization of $86.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.20, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the completion of 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retireful LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 304,886 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,485,000 after acquiring an additional 29,780 shares in the last quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 375.1% during the fourth quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 38,741 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,968,000 after buying an additional 30,586 shares during the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Shrier Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $1,420,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.