Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading Up 3.9% – Here’s Why

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares shot up 3.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $43.20 and last traded at $43.23. 13,781,981 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 12,883,366 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Dbs Bank raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.99. The stock has a market cap of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. Analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.