Analysts Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) PT at $51.00

Key Points

• Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 18 analysts, with an average target price of $51.00 for the stock.
• The company reported a $0.54 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.45, alongside a revenue of $7.58 billion.
• Freeport-McMoRan announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing a 1.4% yield, with a dividend payout ratio of 22.73%.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FCX. Morgan Stanley lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.46. 10,676,281 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,578,604. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.09. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $52.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $59.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.63.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.79% 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 15.1% during the second quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 971,032 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $42,094,000 after purchasing an additional 127,431 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 14.8% during the second quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 10,088 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.0% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 313,972 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $13,819,000 after buying an additional 9,253 shares during the last quarter. Managed Asset Portfolios LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the second quarter. Managed Asset Portfolios LLC now owns 331,658 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $14,377,000 after buying an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,591,770 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $112,353,000 after buying an additional 15,400 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.