Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Up 4.9% – Time to Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price rose 4.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $64.17 and last traded at $63.65. Approximately 14,717,750 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 24,432,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, CICC Research upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 4.9%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $91.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.47.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.