Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at Freedom Capital

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Clarkson Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.73.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.8%

FCX opened at $65.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $57.94 and its 200-day moving average is $47.86. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.44.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 573,486 shares of company stock worth $35,791,937. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at $560,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4,825.6% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,354 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 6,225 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 217.4% in the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 29,014 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 19,874 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.