Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $33.50 and last traded at $33.80, with a volume of 21042152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.61.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $41.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.75 and its 200 day moving average is $41.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $4,692,191,000 after acquiring an additional 642,776 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,122,922,000 after purchasing an additional 688,240 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,123,445,000 after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $916,037,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.