Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $58.72 and last traded at $57.6670, with a volume of 3648067 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $56.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FCX. Johnson Rice decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.73.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.93 and a 200-day moving average of $43.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market cap of $83.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.45.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given 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 Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,588 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 30,192 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 26.2% in the second quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 578,779 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $25,090,000 after purchasing an additional 120,217 shares during the period. 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.