Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the natural resource company’s stock.

FCX has been the subject of a number of other reports. TheStreet raised Freeport-McMoRan from a c rating to a b rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Scotiabank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.21.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $36.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.75. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $24.80 and a 1-year high of $51.99. The firm has a market cap of $51.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The natural resource company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 15.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 13th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total value of $504,139.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,395,815.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. 77.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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Freeport-McMoRan, Inc engages in the mining of copper, gold, and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining, Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining, and Corporate and Other. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Baghdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico.