Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FCX. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.1%

FCX opened at $61.32 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $69.75. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.14. The company has a market cap of $88.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.48.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $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 90 days, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.