Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Now Covered by Analysts at Erste Group Bank

Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $79.29. The company had a trading volume of 4,800,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,032,326. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.80. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $35.15 and a 52-week high of $80.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $113.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.37.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total value of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 106,600 shares of company stock valued at $8,086,812 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NBH Bank acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth $28,000. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.