Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) traded down 1% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $68.80 and last traded at $69.3350. Approximately 10,876,495 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 16,134,435 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. 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 report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Freedom Broker downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.22.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.60. The stock has a market cap of $99.57 billion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued 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 (DPR) is currently 14.78%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of the business’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director directly owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% 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. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. NBH Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $34,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.