Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $48.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $52.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.14. The company has a market capitalization of $68.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.15.

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.