Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Short Interest Update

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,090,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the December 15th total of 24,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.6 %

Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.27. The company had a trading volume of 12,044,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,896,514. The stock has a market cap of $57.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.30 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.27.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 487.8% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 723 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 150.4% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 576 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 740 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FCX. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.42.

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.