Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Up 1.1% After Dividend Announcement

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shot up 1.1% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $58.15 and last traded at $57.1190. 13,752,855 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 21,269,555 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.48.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $80.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.