Freeport-McMoRan Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 53,937 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 9% compared to the typical daily volume of 49,355 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.92.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 164,640 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $8,219,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares during the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 147,735 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after buying an additional 85,542 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,559.3% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 76,493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 71,883 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $754,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 92,224 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a fifty-two week low of $36.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.72 and a 200-day moving average of $45.83. The stock has a market cap of $55.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.90%.

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.