Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Key Points

• Freeport-McMoRan exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.88 in EPS versus the $0.82 consensus estimate and revenue of $7.55 billion compared with $7.36 billion expected.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, equivalent to $0.30 annually and a 0.5% yield.
• Analysts maintained a generally positive outlook, with the stock receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $76.27, while insiders sold more than 110,000 shares over the past 90 days.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The natural resource company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.36 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $65.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.39. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $38.54 and a 1 year high of $80.24.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.0750 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 211,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc NYSE: FCX is a global mining company primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of copper. Copper is used extensively in electrical wiring, construction, transportation, renewable energy systems, and other industrial applications. The company also produces gold and molybdenum, a metal used in steelmaking and other industrial processes, as well as certain other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America, and Indonesia.

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