Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen Higgins Sells 29,654 Shares

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $2.30 on Tuesday, reaching $67.85. 20,289,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,140,730. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.51 billion, a PE ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FCX. CICC Research increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.73.

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.