Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. HSBC lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.26.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $62.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.44. The firm has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.84.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 19.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,847,349.26. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 513,986 shares of company stock worth $32,124,432 in the last 90 days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,366,596 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $882,050,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894,872 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth approximately $159,147,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target on FCX to $75 (from $56) and kept an “outperform” rating — a sizeable lift to upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded FCX from “hold” to “buy,” reinforcing buy-side momentum and contributing to short‑term demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Other broker actions (Stifel raised its target to $76; UBS, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have recently lifted targets) add to the analyst-driven narrative supporting higher valuations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other research outlets highlight rising earnings-estimate revisions and momentum characteristics for FCX, which can justify multiple expansion if commodity prices and volumes cooperate. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Increased media and analyst attention (multiple Zacks pieces, MSN/Yahoo coverage) is amplifying flows into FCX but is informational rather than a direct operational catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Grasberg production setbacks materially reduced Q4 copper/gold volumes, a real operational headwind that can limit near-term revenue despite stronger prices. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales: Chairman Richard Adkerson disclosed multi-hundred-thousand‑share disposals (Feb. 10–11 filings) totaling tens of millions of dollars — these trades can sap sentiment even if explained by diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Douglas Currault II sold 75,000 shares (~$4.8M); insider selling at the executive level is a nearer-term negative for perception of internal conviction. Read More.

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.