Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank Of Canada Analyst Says

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target increased by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $73.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.79% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. HSBC boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One research 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.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.29.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,284,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,733,951. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $80.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ellie Mikes sold 4,773 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock valued at $8,387,271. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. U S Wealth Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth $681,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,687,524 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $169,018,000 after purchasing an additional 117,888 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares during 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 valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.1% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 692,631 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $43,560,000 after buying an additional 74,896 shares during the period. 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.