Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Sector Perform” Rating for Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 target price on the natural resource company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 34.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FCX. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bernstein Bank boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.13.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE FCX traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $44.73. 9,472,223 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,653,658. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.20 and its 200-day moving average is $46.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 169,229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $8,556,218.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,707,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,438,509.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 209.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 657 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.