Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $38.48, but opened at $40.09. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $39.78, with a volume of 3,461,906 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Dbs Bank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.82.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $59.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.30 and a 200-day moving average of $38.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 62,015 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,348,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 25,980 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

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.