Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price Down 2.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares traded down 2.9% during trading on Monday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $66.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as low as $54.17 and last traded at $54.6030. 14,022,335 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 20,878,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.24.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. CICC Research raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total transaction of $15,576,346.80. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,509,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $220,372,673.20. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,619,611,000 after buying an additional 1,572,769 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,244,504,000 after acquiring an additional 622,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,873,136 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,193,327,000 after acquiring an additional 395,226 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.78. The stock has a market cap of $78.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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