Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $74.20 and last traded at $74.20, with a volume of 1553966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, May 15th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $109.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,000. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,012. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $560,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,443 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 42.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 50,114 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 14,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.