Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Given New $72.00 Price Target at HSBC

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its target price raised by HSBC from $69.00 to $72.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on FCX. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. CICC Research upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Argus raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.20.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $68.31 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.41. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $32.12 and a 1-year high of $69.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.18 billion, a PE ratio of 45.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares in the company, valued at $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently 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.