Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX[1] - Get Free Report[2]) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after CICC Research raised their price target on the stock from £50.40 to £64.40. CICC Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Freeport-McMoRan traded as high as £63.58 and last traded at £61.21, with a volume of 31583731 shares.

The stock had previously closed at £60.41. Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from £53.00 to £66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings[3] reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday.

UBS Group upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from £60.00 to £70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a £42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th.

Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of £57.59. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Freeport-McMoRan[4]

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ellie L.

Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of £47.66, for a total value of £456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at £1,847,349.26.

This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink[5]. Also, CAO Stephen T.

Higgins[6] sold 28,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of £47.99, for a total value of £1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at £5,053,059.06.

This represents a 21.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure[7]. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its price target to £70 (from £63) and kept an "outperform" rating, signaling institutional conviction for further upside. Scotiabank raises PT to £70[8]
• Positive Sentiment: CICC Research raised its target to £64.40 (from £50.40) and maintained an "outperform" rating, adding incremental analyst support to the rally. CICC raises PT to £64.40[9]
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight/Overweight-equivalent stance, keeping a large sell-side name in the bullish camp--supportive for fund flows and relative sentiment. JPMorgan maintains Overweight[10]
• Positive Sentiment: FCX reported better-than-expected Q4 results (adjusted EPS £0.47 vs. £0.28 consensus; revenue beat), which is the immediate fundamental catalyst underpinning the move. Trading up after earnings beat[11]
• Neutral Sentiment: Benzinga's options-market analysis shows increased options activity around FCX, indicating traders are positioning for continued movement; heightened options flow can amplify short-term momentum but also implies elevated volatility. Options market analysis[12]
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat's deep dive notes the stock has rebounded strongly (roughly a 70% recovery since the Sept. selloff) and that Grasberg's staged reopening and 2026 production guidance underpin longer-term upside; however, much of that improvement is already priced in, so forward returns depend heavily on metals prices.
• Negative Sentiment: Key risk: copper and gold price direction.

  Analysts diverge on near-term copper forecasts and FCX's cash flow is highly sensitive to small copper moves (company comment: ~£335M operating cash-flow swing per £0.10/lb). If metals soften, FCX's strong rally could reverse. (MarketBeat and industry reports cited differing copper outlooks.)

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth about £25,000.

Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately £28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth £29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter.

JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately £33,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 869 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at £44,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter.

Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of £87.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of £50.22 and a 200-day moving average price of £45.10.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX[13] - Get Free Report[14]) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported £0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of £0.28 by £0.19. The business had revenue of £5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of £5.42 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned £0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd.

Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a £0.075 dividend. This represents a £0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th.

Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 19.87%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Before you consider Freeport-McMoRan, you'll want to hear this.

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References

1. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
2. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
3. ^ Weiss Ratings (weissratings.com)
4. ^ Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Freeport-McMoRan (www.marketbeat.com)
5. ^ this hyperlink (www.sec.gov)
6. ^ Stephen T.

   Higgins (www.insidertrades.com)

7. ^ official SEC disclosure (www.sec.gov)
8. ^ Scotiabank raises PT to £70 (www.marketscreener.com)
9. ^ CICC raises PT to £64.40 (www.marketscreener.com)
10. ^ JPMorgan maintains Overweight (finance.yahoo.com)
11. ^ Trading up after earnings beat (www.americanbankingnews.com)
12. ^ Options market analysis (www.benzinga.com)
13. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
14. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
15. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
16. ^ five stocks (www.marketbeat.com)
17. ^ View The Five Stocks Here (www.marketbeat.com)
18. ^ Get This Free Report (marketbeat.com)