Scotiabank Boosts Earnings Estimates for Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) – Research analysts at Scotiabank boosted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Freeport-McMoRan in a research note issued to 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 previous estimate of $1.31. Scotiabank has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective 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 released 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 company had revenue of $6.79 billion during 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%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $38.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $56.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,965,717,000 after buying an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,891,058 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,436,455,000 after buying an additional 529,099 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after acquiring an additional 11,687,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,028,452 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $536,038,000 after acquiring an additional 530,676 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.