Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Up 7.7% – Time to Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price rose 7.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $59.00 and last traded at $58.8470. Approximately 18,434,706 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 20,876,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.2%

The company has a market cap of $88.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.25 and its 200-day moving average is $50.96. 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 business had revenue of $5.63 billion during 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%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total value of $15,576,346.80. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,509,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,372,673.20. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 over the last 90 days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Lane Brothers & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 28,679 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 11,017 shares during the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $390,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 204,494 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $10,388,000 after acquiring an additional 32,461 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.