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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 84,576 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 27% compared to the average volume of 66,384 call options.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $5.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.79. 10,202,974 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,206,311. The company has a market cap of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $72.09.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 15.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on FCX. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $66.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at $560,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.0% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 12,443 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 42.7% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 50,114 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 14,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.