Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $47.94, but opened at $50.00. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $48.29, with a volume of 1,600,748 shares traded.

The natural resource company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business 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 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FCX. StockNews.com lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,427,583,000 after acquiring an additional 13,143,562 shares during the period. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $417,752,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 40.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,155,256 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $712,600,000 after acquiring an additional 4,396,309 shares during the period. Asia Research & Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $197,966,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $162,464,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.3 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.41, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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.