Unveiling Freeport-McMoRan FCX’s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Freeport-McMoRan’s stock was trading at $38.00 on January 1st, 2023. Since then, FCX shares have increased by 6.2% and is now trading at $40.37. Click the link to learn what streetwise investors need to know about the metaverse and public markets before making an investment. The Grasberg mine is a significant source of revenue for Freeport-McMoRan, accounting for approximately 30% of the company’s copper production and 40% of its gold production. The mine has operated since the 1970s and has significantly expanded recently.

The ROIC measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The WACC is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC exceeds the WACC, the company is likely creating value for its shareholders. In the past 12 months, Freeport-McMoRan’s ROIC is 9.17 while its WACC came in at 13.59. Investing in profitable companies, especially those with consistent profitability over the long term, is generally less risky.

© 2023 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided ‘as-is’ and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see Barchart’s disclaimer. Freeport-McMoRan saw a increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 15,600,000 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the August 15th total of 14,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. 13 Wall Street research analysts have issued 1 year price objectives for Freeport-McMoRan’s shares. On average, they anticipate the company’s share price to reach $39.96 in the next year.

Unveiling Freeport-McMoRan (FCX)’s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Freeport-McMoRan’s stock is owned by many different institutional and retail investors. To find out high-quality companies that may deliver above-average returns, please check out the GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener. A world-leading copper miner and a healthcare giant are highly attractive stocks to buy in June. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services. Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity.

Certain Zacks Rank stocks for which no month-end price was available, pricing information was not collected, or for certain other reasons have been excluded from these return calculations. Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a publicly traded mining company that operates primarily in North and South America. The company is in the top ten of the world’s largest producers of copper, gold and molybdenum, and its operations include mines, smelters and refineries. 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, as well as oil and gas. It also operates a portfolio of oil and gas properties primarily located in offshore California and the Gulf of Mexico.

Freeport-McMoRan’s other major operation is the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, one of the world’s largest copper mines. The mine was established as a joint venture between Freeport-McMoRan, Buenaventura and Sumitomo Corporation, with Freeport-McMoRan owning a 53.56% stake. Freeport-McMoRan’s stock is estimated to be fairly valued based on the GF Value calculation. If the stock price significantly surpasses the GF Value Line, it is considered overvalued, and its future return is likely to be poor.

There are currently 1 sell rating, 8 hold ratings and 4 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should “hold” FCX shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in FCX, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares. In addition to its mining operations, Freeport-McMoRan owns and operates smelters and refineries in the United States and South America.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. stock outperforms competitors on strong trading day

The company has implemented a comprehensive environmental management system designed to minimize its impact on the environment while supporting the communities in which it operates. Freeport-McMoRan was founded in 1988 when Freeport Minerals Corporation merged with McMoRan Oil & Gas Company. Both companies had a long history in the mining industry, with Freeport Minerals founded in 1912 and McMoRan Oil & Gas in 1969. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool’s premium services. Add copper exposure to your portfolio with a miner and dividend distributor.

• Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity.
• It also operates a portfolio of oil and gas properties primarily located in offshore California and the Gulf of Mexico.
• The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014.
• The monthly returns are then compounded to arrive at the annual return.

View analysts price targets for FCX or view top-rated stocks among Wall Street analysts. The merger of the two companies created a vertically integrated mining company that could control every aspect of the mining process. The union of the two https://1investing.in/ companies allowed Freeport-McMoRan to become one of the world’s largest producers of copper, gold and molybdenum. 13 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued “buy,” “hold,” and “sell” ratings for Freeport-McMoRan in the last year.

Stock Activity

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1988 it has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +24.32% per year. These returns cover a period from January 1, 1988 through July 31, 2023. Zacks Rank stock-rating system returns are computed monthly based on the beginning of the month and end of the month Zacks Rank stock prices plus any dividends received during that particular month. A simple, equally-weighted average return of all Zacks Rank stocks is calculated to determine the monthly return.

Investors of record on Friday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share on Tuesday, August 1st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, October 19th 2023. Freeport-McMoRan has also implemented a water management program, which aims to minimize the use of fresh water in its operations and promote water conservation.

Dividend Strength

Upgrade to MarketBeat All Access to add more stocks to your watchlist. One share of FCX stock can currently be purchased for approximately $40.37. 233 employees have rated Freeport-McMoRan Chief Executive Officer Richard C. Adkerson on Glassdoor.com. Richard C. Adkerson has an approval rating of 87% among the company’s employees. Freeport-McMoRan announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 21st.

Freeport-McMoRan has been profitable six out of the past ten years. The GF Value is a unique measure of a stock’s intrinsic value, computed based on historical trading multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor informed by past performance and growth, and future business performance estimates. The GF Value Line on our summary page provides an overview of the fair value at which the stock should ideally trade.

The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style. The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There’s also a VGM Score (‘V’ for Value, ‘G’ for Growth and ‘M’ for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

In addition, the company has invested in technologies that allow it to recycle and reuse water, and it has also partnered with local communities to implement water conservation projects. One of the critical components of Freeport-McMoRan’s sustainability strategy is its focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company has set a target of reducing its carbon footprint by 10% by the end of 2023, compared to its 2018 baseline.

Analysts see these stocks as undervalued, but here’s what you really need to know before buying them. Based on strong copper demand due to the electrification of everything trend and ongoing supply constraints, the metal’s price should remain robust. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1’s and #2’s will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4’s and #5’s. The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank.

In addition to its environmental initiatives, Freeport-McMoRan is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates. The company has implemented a social responsibility program, which includes initiatives to improve education, healthcare and economic development in the communities near its mining operations. The company’s revenues have steadily grown over the past decade, driven by increasing demand for copper and other essential metals. Freeport-McMoRan’s operations are primarily in North and South America, with mines in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Chile. The company also owns a 48.76% stake in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the largest gold mine in the world and the second-largest copper mining operation in the world. Comparing a company’s return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted average cost of capital (WACC) can also help evaluate its profitability.

Conversely, if it falls significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. Given that Freeport-McMoRan is fairly valued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to align with the rate of its business growth. A combination of positive industry and stock-specific news sent Freeport-McMoRan’s shares higher. You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.

This allows the company to process the ore from its mines into finished products, such as copper cathodes and gold bars. Before investing in a company’s meaning of frozen account stock, it’s crucial to evaluate its financial strength. Investing in companies with poor financial strength poses a higher risk of permanent loss.

The monthly returns are then compounded to arrive at the annual return. Only Zacks Rank stocks included in Zacks hypothetical portfolios at the beginning of each month are included in the return calculations. Zacks Ranks stocks can, and often do, change throughout the month.

The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Data are provided ‘as is’ for informational purposes only and are not intended for trading purposes. Data may be intentionally delayed pursuant to supplier requirements.