Analysts Set Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Target Price at $52.93

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.93.

Several analysts have commented on FCX shares. Argus raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of FCX opened at $51.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.75. The firm has a market cap of $73.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.38, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,331,577.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total value of $2,242,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 64,053 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,083 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.