Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors purchased 75,145 FCX call options, about 30% above the stock’s typical daily call volume.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with 19 Buy, one Strong Buy and three Hold ratings; the average price target is $70.27.
• Strong quarterly results: The company reported adjusted earnings of $0.74 per share and revenue of $7.03 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while shares recently traded at $67.20.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 75,145 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 30% compared to the typical daily volume of 57,817 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FCX. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded up $3.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.20. 9,583,696 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,364,072. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $63.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $72.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 14.78%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 7,550 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $475,650.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 68,895 shares in the company, valued at $4,340,385. This trade represents a 9.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. KBC Group NV grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 73,002 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $62,478,000 after buying an additional 272,726 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $16,122,000 after buying an additional 213,477 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.