Freeport-McMoRan Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 53,937 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 9% compared to the average volume of 49,355 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 47,144 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,777 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.2% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 4,577 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.0% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,681 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.4% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FCX. UBS Group upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.92.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.5 %

FCX traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.11. 6,993,065 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,754,195. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.89. The stock has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Freeport-McMoRan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.