Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $41.61, but opened at $43.38. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $43.88, with a volume of 2,781,044 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $43.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 7.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.00 and a 200-day moving average of $38.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 80.77% of the stock is 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.