Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Down 2% – What’s Next?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price fell 2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $56.50 and last traded at $56.6390. 14,619,690 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 19,682,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.19.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.24. The stock has a market cap of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 15.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value 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 $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918 over the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 109.3% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 679,498 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $39,941,000 after acquiring an additional 354,856 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 45.8% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,020 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 16,646 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $668,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $444,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at $63,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently 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.