Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after CICC Research raised their price target on the stock from $50.40 to $64.40. CICC Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as high as $63.58 and last traded at $61.21, with a volume of 31583731 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $60.41.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FCX. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Freeport-McMoRan

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its price target to $70 (from $63) and kept an “outperform” rating, signaling institutional conviction for further upside. Scotiabank raises PT to $70
• Positive Sentiment: CICC Research raised its target to $64.40 (from $50.40) and maintained an “outperform” rating, adding incremental analyst support to the rally. CICC raises PT to $64.40
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight/Overweight-equivalent stance, keeping a large sell‑side name in the bullish camp—supportive for fund flows and relative sentiment. JPMorgan maintains Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: FCX reported better‑than‑expected Q4 results (adjusted EPS $0.47 vs. $0.28 consensus; revenue beat), which is the immediate fundamental catalyst underpinning the move. Trading up after earnings beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Benzinga’s options‑market analysis shows increased options activity around FCX, indicating traders are positioning for continued movement; heightened options flow can amplify short‑term momentum but also implies elevated volatility. Options market analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat’s deep dive notes the stock has rebounded strongly (roughly a 70% recovery since the Sept. selloff) and that Grasberg’s staged reopening and 2026 production guidance underpin longer‑term upside; however, much of that improvement is already priced in, so forward returns depend heavily on metals prices.
• Negative Sentiment: Key risk: copper and gold price direction. Analysts diverge on near‑term copper forecasts and FCX’s cash flow is highly sensitive to small copper moves (company comment: ~$335M operating cash‑flow swing per $0.10/lb). If metals soften, FCX’s strong rally could reverse. (MarketBeat and industry reports cited differing copper outlooks.)

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $560,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 31,834 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.45. 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 (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

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.