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

Key Points

• Freeport-McMoRan shares gapped down from $45.36 to $41.83 before trading, last reported at $41.07 with a trading volume of over 15 million shares.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.54 per share, exceeding estimates, and posted quarterly revenue of $7.58 billion, up 14.5% year-over-year.
• Freeport-McMoRan declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, with a yield of 1.5% and a payout ratio of 22.73% scheduled for payment on November 3rd.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $45.36, but opened at $41.83. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $41.07, with a volume of 15,015,339 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $43.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.54. The company has a market capitalization of $58.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.59.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 126,983,947 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $5,504,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941,662 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 62,358,715 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,703,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926,493 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,787,174 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,678,474,000 after acquiring an additional 320,514 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,421,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661,958 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,046,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,054,537 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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