Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on FCX. Clarkson Capital upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.11.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX opened at $47.97 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $49.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.68. The company has a market cap of $68.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 166,630 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $6,535,000 after acquiring an additional 39,624 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $2,282,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.4% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,167 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $1,883,000. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% during the third quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 18,184 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.