Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) traded up 3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $74.90 and last traded at $74.3380. 8,241,331 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 16,649,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.29.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.0%

The firm has a market cap of $106.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271 over the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth $739,890,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,014,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924,573 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,044,775 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,498,267 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $675,896,000 after buying an additional 5,784,156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.