Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,660,000 shares, a decline of 10.9% from the August 31st total of 20,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. BNP Paribas raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE FCX opened at $49.92 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $55.24. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $71.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.18, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.57.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 7.83%. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% in the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 64,053 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,083 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4.3% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,243 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.