Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Falls 1% – Here’s Why

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) dropped 1% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $69.96 and last traded at $70.0750. Approximately 16,644,939 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 16,443,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock 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. Freedom Broker cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.87.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $99.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.46. 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 posted its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,795,951. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total transaction of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 211,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $253,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 53,742 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,762,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 865 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 319,057 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $20,065,000 after acquiring an additional 38,807 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.