Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up to $33.63

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $33.63, but opened at $34.87. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $34.72, with a volume of 2,332,665 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.42.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 2.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.16 and its 200-day moving average is $39.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 21st. The natural resource company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 12.07% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The company had revenue of $5.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 13th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 16.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.90 per share, with a total value of $139,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,220. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,678 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total value of $504,139.26. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,395,815.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sara Grootwassink Lewis bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $34.90 per share, for a total transaction of $139,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,800 shares in the company, valued at $621,220. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $374,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 300,285 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $8,379,000 after acquiring an additional 45,975 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 95,541 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after acquiring an additional 37,029 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 779,026 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,603,000 after acquiring an additional 44,175 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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Freeport-McMoRan, Inc engages in the mining of copper, gold, and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining, Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining, and Corporate and Other. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Baghdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico.