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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened 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

FCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

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 50-day moving average of $42.87 and a 200-day moving average of $39.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 2.04.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Retirement Group LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 97.1% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 670 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.