Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Down 2.5% – Should You Sell?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price was down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $67.01 and last traded at $69.3190. Approximately 10,835,874 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 16,857,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $99.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.99 and its 200-day moving average is $64.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 14.78%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total transaction of $6,284,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,244,504,000 after buying an additional 622,343 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,044,775 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,669,550 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,601,087,000 after purchasing an additional 238,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 22,685,423 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,152,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a global 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 wiring, construction, transportation, industrial equipment and renewable-energy technologies. The company also produces gold as a byproduct of its copper operations and molybdenum, an alloying metal used in steelmaking and other industrial applications.

Freeport-McMoRan operates major mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.