Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Trading 0.1% Higher - What's Next?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $37.45 and last traded at $37.06. 2,392,223 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 13,668,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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 given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.09.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $36.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 24.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.7% during the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 42,356 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the period. Avos Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Avos Capital Management LLC now owns 24,317 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,165,499 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $422,726,000 after purchasing an additional 989,919 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 76.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,620 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.7% during the first quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,490,328 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $56,424,000 after purchasing an additional 190,697 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.