In the latest market close, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) reached $38.89, with a -1.89% movement compared to the previous day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.56% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.51%.

Coming into today, shares of the mining company had gained 6.65% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector gained 3.81%, while the S&P 500 gained 7.37%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.47, reflecting a 2.17% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $6.93 billion, reflecting a 4.69% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $1.67 per share and a revenue of $26.91 billion, demonstrating changes of +12.84% and +5.71%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 3.34% higher. Freeport-McMoRan is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 23.8. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 21.62.

We can additionally observe that FCX currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.78. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Mining – Non Ferrous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.8 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 47, finds itself in the top 20% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research