Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $72.09 and last traded at $71.4740, with a volume of 2596560 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. CICC Research reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.81.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.90 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.35.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.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 company posted $0.24 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,619,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,769 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,244,504,000 after acquiring an additional 622,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,873,136 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,193,327,000 after acquiring an additional 395,226 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,489,069,000 after acquiring an additional 7,044,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.