Raymond James Forecasts Lower Earnings for Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) – Equities researchers at Raymond James decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report released on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James analyst B. Macarthur now forecasts that the natural resource company will post earnings of $1.35 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $1.60. Raymond James currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Freeport-McMoRan’s current full-year earnings is $1.49 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Freeport-McMoRan’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.18 EPS and Q1 2025 earnings at $0.45 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $38.99 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.09 and its 200 day moving average is $44.74. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $36.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $462,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 51,697 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,418,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 160,920 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,128,000 after buying an additional 2,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.