Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 3.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) were up 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $52.00 to $76.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as high as $65.50 and last traded at $65.41. Approximately 15,469,652 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 23,776,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.26.

FCX has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC raised their target price 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 $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.35.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 513,986 shares of company stock worth $32,124,432. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

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

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target on FCX to $76 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling fresh analyst conviction and upside potential that can support the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights that recent upward revisions to Freeport’s earnings estimates (surging estimates) create near‑term upside potential and help justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also profiles FCX as a momentum/long‑term idea — increased coverage and momentum narratives can attract flows into the shares. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary asks whether it’s “too late” to buy after a large one‑year rally — useful for framing risk/reward but not a direct catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reports Grasberg setbacks led to a sharp Q4 volume decline, cutting copper and gold sales despite higher realized prices — an operational headwind that can pressure near‑term revenue and investor sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Chairman Richard Adkerson sold large blocks over Feb. 10–11 (combined millions of dollars), which can sap sentiment and raise short‑term selling pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Douglas Currault II sold 75,000 shares (~$4.84M) on Feb. 11; while insiders still hold sizable stakes, the sales add to near‑term supply concerns. Read More.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,240 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $821,000. CI Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 52,768 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 20,168 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 273,652 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $13,899,000 after purchasing an additional 113,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 21,049 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 5.3%

The firm has a market cap of $89.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.59 and its 200-day moving average is $46.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

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.