Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $63.63, but opened at $69.39. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $63.7220, with a volume of 20,276,034 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company has a market cap of $93.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.24, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.13 and its 200 day moving average is $45.34.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 869 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.