Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Up 4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) rose 4% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $73.07 and last traded at $72.0720. 11,926,276 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 16,397,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several research reports. Freedom Broker lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.87.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $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. The company has a market cap of $103.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.39.

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 business had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors 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 payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBH Bank acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.