Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.5905.

FCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. HSBC boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, CICC Research boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $60,840,000 after acquiring an additional 115,285 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 33,959 shares during the period. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd now owns 113,100 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,903,000 after purchasing an additional 53,100 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,213,000 after purchasing an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Momentum Wealth Planning LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $54.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.41. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.41.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

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.