Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Down to $44.28

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $44.28, but opened at $42.36. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $41.29, with a volume of 3,624,483 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. Morgan Stanley upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.50 to $62.00 in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $59.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.82.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.07. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Souders Financial Advisors increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 16,819 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 3,997 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 34.0% during the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 10,056 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,550 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 92.2% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 225,801 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $10,973,000 after purchasing an additional 108,342 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 320,419 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,572,000 after purchasing an additional 29,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $607,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently 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.