Scotiabank Increases Earnings Estimates for Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank lifted their FY2024 earnings estimates for Freeport-McMoRan in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst O. Wowkodaw now expects that the natural resource company will post earnings per share of $1.42 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.31. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $48.00 price target 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.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on FCX. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $39.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.15 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.86. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $36.26 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Michael S. Ryan Inc. grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 8,022 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 28,750 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 7,808 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,548,963 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $58,985,000 after purchasing an additional 64,906 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 142,486 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $5,426,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 15,951 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.90%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.