Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Down to $50.02

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $50.02, but opened at $48.42. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $48.30, with a volume of 2,971,647 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.54.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.08 and a 200 day moving average of $39.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CM Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 80.0% during the third quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $279,977,000 after acquiring an additional 102,466 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 647,691 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $27,572,000 after acquiring an additional 240,340 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 57.4% in the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,391,230 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $201,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 345,917 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $14,726,000 after purchasing an additional 20,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.