Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.64, but opened at $44.66. Freeport-McMoRan shares last traded at $44.09, with a volume of 2,868,100 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $63.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.84 and its 200 day moving average is $46.74.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced 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. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 4,767.8% during the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 11,933,126 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $595,702,000 after buying an additional 11,687,982 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,310,294 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,348,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366,187 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 423.5% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,788,111 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $139,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255,529 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 5,943,074 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $288,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,409,395 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,965,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,494 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.