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

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX[1] - Get Free Report[2]) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 52,445 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 10% compared to the average volume of 47,484 call options.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX[3] traded up £1.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching £40.01.

The stock had a trading volume of 6,263,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,048,869. The business's fifty day moving average is £39.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is £38.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

The company has a market cap of £57.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan has a twelve month low of £32.83 and a twelve month high of £44.70. Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX[4] - Get Free Report[5]) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th.

The natural resource company reported £0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of £0.23 by £0.04. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The business had revenue of £5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of £5.85 billion.

During the same period in the prior year, the company posted £0.52 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 1st.

Stockholders of record on Friday, January 12th were paid a £0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 11th. This represents a £0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%.

Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.62%.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about £26,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 15.2% during the first quarter.

Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,101 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth £553,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 40.8% during the first quarter.

Blair William & Co. IL now owns 112,066 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth £5,574,000 after buying an additional 32,474 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 73.6% during the first quarter.

Sei Investments Co. now owns 132,043 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth £6,624,000 after buying an additional 55,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 79,686 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth £3,964,000 after buying an additional 14,388 shares during the last quarter.

77.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a £55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C.

Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from £41.00 to £48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from £42.00 to £43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from £42.00 to £41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th.

Finally, Eight Capital set a £55.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of £44.95.

Get Our Latest Analysis on FCX[6]

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.

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References

1. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
2. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
3. ^ NYSE FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
4. ^ NYSE:FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
5. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
6. ^ Get Our Latest Analysis on FCX (www.marketbeat.com)
7. ^ Get Free Report (www.marketbeat.com)
8. ^ five stocks (www.marketbeat.com)
9. ^ View The Five Stocks Here (www.marketbeat.com)
10. ^ Get This Free Report (marketbeat.com)