Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Down 3.8% – What’s Next?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was down 3.8% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $68.68 and last traded at $69.6460. Approximately 12,415,952 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 16,157,108 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on FCX. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Freedom Broker lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.22.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market cap of $99.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.60.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released 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 business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.90 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0750 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 14.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,000. This trade represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 224,858 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $15,740,000 after buying an additional 29,163 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Aspiriant LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.4% during the third quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 4,839 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 265.7% in the third quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. now owns 1,653 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% in the third quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,319 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,592,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) is a leading international 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 systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.