Scotiabank Boosts Earnings Estimates for Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank upped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst O. Wowkodaw now expects that the natural resource company will post earnings of $1.42 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.31. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Freeport-McMoRan’s current full-year earnings is $1.49 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Freeport-McMoRan’s FY2026 earnings at $1.42 EPS.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $38.99 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $56.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 21.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares during the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 85,542 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 71,883 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after buying an additional 12,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.