Scotiabank Lowers Earnings Estimates for Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) – Scotiabank dropped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a 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 $1.21 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $1.34. 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.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FCX. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.96.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $39.77 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

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

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.90%.

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.