Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $71.00 Price Target at BNP Paribas Exane

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Exane cut its price target on Freeport-McMoRan to $71 from $75 but kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 19.03% upside from the stock's current price.
• Freeport beat EPS expectations for the quarter ($0.57 vs. $0.47) but missed on revenue ($6.23B vs. $6.40B), while insiders sold a sizable amount of stock recently (565,145 shares over the last quarter) even as institutional ownership remains high (~80.8%).

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the natural resource company's stock. BNP Paribas Exane's price target points to a potential upside of 19.03% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. HSBC boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.19.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $59.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $62.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.48. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $34.45 and a 12-month high of $70.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.40 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. The trade was a 37.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. The trade was a 21.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $721,806,000 after purchasing an additional 7,192,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PointState Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $198,523,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

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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