Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $72.09 and last traded at $71.4740, with a volume of 2596560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on FCX. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.50 to $58.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.31.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.7%

The firm has a market cap of $103.55 billion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.