Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Up 2.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Freeport-McMoRan shares rose 2.3% after Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target from $73 to $85 while maintaining a sector perform rating.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” based on one Strong Buy, 20 Buy and four Hold ratings; the consensus target price is $70.29.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.74 EPS versus $0.62 expected and $7.03 billion in revenue, while insiders sold $8.4 million of stock during the last quarter.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $85.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as high as $71.58 and last traded at $70.84. Approximately 10,953,326 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 16,725,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.24.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FCX. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $70.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ellie Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director owned 122,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $62,478,000 after purchasing an additional 272,726 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $16,122,000 after buying an additional 213,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,970,872 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $627,068,000 after acquiring an additional 141,738 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.3%

The stock has a market cap of $101.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $68.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.76. 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 (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a global 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 wiring, construction, transportation, industrial equipment and renewable-energy technologies. The company also produces gold as a byproduct of its copper operations and molybdenum, an alloying metal used in steelmaking and other industrial applications.

Freeport-McMoRan operates major mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.

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