UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Stock Price

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $70.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the natural resource company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.31% from the stock’s current price.

FCX has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $56.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.68. The stock has a market cap of $80.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,973,108 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,014,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924,573 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891,743 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $761,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,211,579 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $721,806,000 after purchasing an additional 7,192,955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.