Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Cut to "Hold" at Freedom Broker

Key Points

• Freedom Broker downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from “strong buy” to “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $70.27 price target.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, beating estimates of $0.62, and revenue of $7.03 billion versus the $6.62 billion consensus; however, revenue declined 7.3% year over year.
• Insiders sold $8.4 million worth of shares over the past three months, while institutional investors own 80.77% of the company.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Freedom Broker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on FCX. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $72.78 on Thursday. 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 has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $80.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.19 and a 200-day moving average of $64.31. The company has a market cap of $104.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the business'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 value of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total value of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. This represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6,434.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 142,181,964 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $8,941,824,000 after purchasing an additional 140,006,047 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth $739,890,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,014,434,000 after buying an additional 9,924,573 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $721,806,000 after buying an additional 7,192,955 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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