Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after HSBC raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $69.00. HSBC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as high as $61.60 and last traded at $61.4310, with a volume of 231330 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.07.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $55.30.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,760,188 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $5,049,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,241 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,258,414 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,480,995,000 after purchasing an additional 899,699 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,477,910 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,450,384,000 after buying an additional 690,736 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $849,945,000 after buying an additional 435,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $88.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.70.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 21.13%.

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.