Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Down 2.5% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Freeport-McMoRan shares fell 2.5% to approximately $69.32, near the analyst consensus price target of $69.75. Despite the decline, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 21 of 25 ratings being Buy or Strong Buy.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.74 versus $0.62 expected and revenue of $7.03 billion versus $6.62 billion estimated. However, revenue declined 7.3% year over year.
• Freeport-McMoRan declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075, equal to a 0.4% annualized yield, while insiders sold roughly $8.4 million of stock over the past three months. Institutional investors remain significant shareholders, owning 80.77% of the company.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 2.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $67.01 and last traded at $69.3190. 10,835,874 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 16,857,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. HSBC raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.74.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares in the company, valued at $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. U S Wealth Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at about $681,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,687,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $169,018,000 after acquiring an additional 117,888 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.9% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 54,572 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 15.8% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 8,162 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 692,631 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $43,560,000 after purchasing an additional 74,896 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

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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