Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Down 0.2% - Here's What Happened

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) dropped 0.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $37.05 and last traded at $37.28. Approximately 2,819,068 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 13,849,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Freeport-McMoRan from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $51.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.54 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.88.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The firm's revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.